Tis' the season for...

... babies! I'm so pleased to honor another birth with these announcements for baby Mila. Since the timing was right Chris & Amy wanted to combine their news with a little holiday cheer. As usual, for birth announcements, I like to start with the photo and Amy knew she wanted olive green and pink as well as Lilly of the Valley incorporated somehow. The fact that these were custom designed and printed within the first month of adorable little Mila's life is very telling of how great Amy was to work with! Photo by Bella Baby Photography

CELEBRATE 60

Margo Penelope

My adorable neice Margo is anxiously awaiting her baptism this month... well maybe she has no idea what is coming, but we are all excited for her! My sister-in-law Rania wanted to celebrate Margo with the brightest and pinkest of pinks, but also wanted something appropriately Autumn-ish. I guess you could say I was insprired by water in creating this illustration and it fits as Margo is about to take the plunge. The invite is printed in 5(!) runs on super 220# Lettra. I used the thicker stock so the top kraft piece would tie nicely around the invite without tearing the edges. The kraft peice features a Mandinatha (traditional Cretan couplet) about Margo's upcoming event and Godparents and discretely hides hotel info for out of town guests on the reverse. I found the bright pink twine at The Twinery who has bakers twine in a whole lot of amazing colors. 

Baby Julian

This summer we welcomed another baby boy to the block, born to the awesome Foley family. I had a lot of fun designing for Carley & Casey because they knew a few specific elements they wanted to incorporate, but then let me have at it in developing this birth announcement for their first born babe. Carley has created a beautiful nursery for baby Julian in gray and yellow, so his current 'team colors' have influenced the announcement as well. They also have a fondness for elephants, so I drew this illustration to celebrate their adorable new family. I used a detail from a photo of an elephant to create the skin texture and it came out perfect on the press. The announcement is printed in two runs on 110# Lettra and delivered in a gray envelope. Photographer Brooke F. Scott took the adorable photo of Julian as a sleepy newborn, but now he's all grown up and wide awake cheering on the Red Sox with Daddy!

Twin Baby Shower

When our friend Nicolette was pregnant with twins, a boy and girl, we didn’t want to throw a baby shower that was too “baby-ish”. The inspiration for the shower was Noah’s Arc & the animals “two by two”. The shower was held at The Rose Establishment, a coffee and tea shop in downtown Salt Lake City. Letterpress stationery included invitations complete with washi tape detail and favor tags (guests filled their own tea bags with assorted loose teas). The girls started a tradition of giving the babies our favorite books when I was pregnant with my first son two years ago. I printed personalized bookplates for the twin’s library as a keepsake from the event. We decorated the table with newspaper boats, air plants and succulents, and place cards were flagged on blue velvet jar cakes for each guest. (The blue velvet turned out darker than we expected, but Nicolette’s favorite color is black anyway and they were delicious.) We used inexpensive quilting fabric for table runners in alternating pink and green patterns and my next project is to make them into lap quilts for the babies. Hopefully by time they are born! Erica and Caleb from the The Rose Establishment made a variety of delicious tea sandwiches and salads; refreshments included Hibiscus Mint iced tea and tea service.