Wedding invitations. The Making of.
I had the pleasure of designing wedding invitations for Tim and Courtney (my brother-in-law and future sister-in-law) and Anna and Jeffery (my sister-in-law and future brother-in-law). Congrats to both couples!
For Tim and Courtney’s invites, I dug deep to find my fine-art side — a side that has not seen much light since the college days. I had such a blast with this process I thought I would share it with you.
Since it will be an outdoor wedding, I wanted to give the invitations a really natural feel. Paper played a big part. It was printed on 80 lb. cover, Birch, one of Neenah Papers’s environmental series (100 percent recycled, giving it natural texture and imperfections; I love paper). I also used a vellum overlay to give elegance and a contrast to the rugged recycled paper. The wedding flower is a yellow gerbera daisy that I wanted to incorporate somehow. To achieve the desired effect, simply using offset or digital printing for the gerbera daisy would not work. I wanted a texture to the ink and natural imperfections in the print. To do this, I used a process called relief printing or block printing. I had a print shop print up the ensemble using a spot blue to match the bridemaids’ dresses with a blank area for the block print.
I love the printing process and had a great time designing and printing the invitations. It is a simple process but extremely time-intensive for larger runs. This ensemble required over 400 hand-printed gerbera daises (2 cards for 200 invitations).
Check out the video below to see the process. Click here if the video does not work in your browser. AND Stay tuned for the making of Anna and Jeffery’s invitations.
Marketing at its finest.
I thoroughly enjoyed Listerine’s marketing verbage on their advertised “24 hour protection”. Apparently to get the 24 hour protection, it must be used every 12 hours. I will be putting out my new mouth wash product that has 36 hour protection! (use ever hour).
Concert in the Bathroom
If you are to ever visit our apartment or just hang out with us for a few minutes you will hear a common sound. Whistling. I was searching through our photos and noticed in roughly 99% of the photos of Sarah, she is whistling. Yes, even her game face is whistling. Maybe it is a great intimidation tactic for basketball. There have been several instances when I have been waiting outside of the women’s restroom for Sarah and have heard the sound of whistling, apparently providing a mini concert for the other women using the facilities. I think that Sarah has a continual rotation of music going through her head, often times tunes she makes up.
“Would you like to be considered a couple?”
So Friday, January 29th 2005 I said those romantic words, “Would you like to be considered a couple?” (I thought it was sooth at the time) to who is now my wife. Friday marked FIVE years of being a couple! To mark this memorable day Sarah did something amazing for me—a scavenger hunt. I got home early afternoon with a note on the door with the first clue that lead me to photo albums, books, and other items in the house that we have shared memories together. Every clue was perfectly thought out and extremely clever. My favorite was the clue “Our relationship truly is an ‘Active Job.’ And today marks the Beginning of It All.” I have a carefully structured organization system on the computer for my design jobs. All of my current design projects are in the folder “active jobs”. In the folder was a letter straight from her heart that—sappy I know—brought tears to my eyes. I truly am a lucky man.
And then I found…twenty bucks!
So remember back in college…when you were telling this really awesome story…except nobody else thought it was awesome…so you had to think of some flare…before you lost your whole audience…and the flare (and least in our circles) had to do with money? Remember? I do. And I’d like to tell you a story:
The other day James and I went for a run. It was so nice outside–like spring! Well, we’re running by the lake and see this guy taking pictures of something out there. It was an eagle! (Stop yawning.) He proceeded to show us all the photos he’d taken so far of said eagle and another sweet-looking bird. But we had to keep running. So we’re making our way to Owen’s (to return a Redbox dvd), and then…I found twenty bucks!
And no, I didn’t just say that to keep you entertained. I really did find $20!!! WHOA! See, this is why I always look down. I don’t remember much of the scenery in Argentina or Bolivia or Tennessee, but I sure do know their streets! I usually only find a quarter or so. $20, though; that’s the jackpot!!
Hope you liked my story!
-Sarah
Bball Time Again
I (Sarah) had another fun time at the basketball game fundraiser. This time one of the Colts cheerleaders actually joined us in the game. I’m all, “Pu-leeeease, don’t insult me!” And then. She swished a three!! Man oh man. She was cool after that!
(The photo was one of our many fun “plays”–volleyball! We also played soccer and football…all with that basketball. Great times!
Nestle wrote me back!
They were really thoughtful in their (long) letter to me–telling me how distribution works and such. Then they used my zipcode to find a local store that carries their brand of hot cocoa. It was the Owens way downtown. Never tried that one before. So we went last night. Checked it out. And. They only carry the individual packets, just like our close Owens. Those things are more than TWICE as much as the tubs of cocoa! No way am I paying that (not with the rate I go through cocoa!). That’s it, though. No free stuff. No samples. No coupons. I was slightly disappointed.
So. I’m going to write them back. And let them know that I hope they start distributing the big tubs in at least one local store! Or. Maybe they can find one in Fort Wayne that’s got ‘em. I could stock up…
The saga continues. Will keep you posted. Literally! (Ha!) 
I wrote a letter to Nestle.
You see, I love their brand of cocoa. And really theirs alone. So I wrote the following letter. I hope it helps, so I can find cocoa again! But secretly, I wrote it because every time I write companies letters, they send me a free sample. And I love free things. Especially if they’re Nestle things.
-Sarah
Why are we here?
“Here” as in right here at this moment in this situation. Waiting is not the most enjoyable task in the world. Here are some lyrics from Brandon Heath. Not a huge fan of this song, but every time it gets to this part, it totally resinates with my heart:
“Still wondering why I’m here
Still wrestling with my fear
But oh, He’s up to something
And the farther on I go
I’ve seen enough to know that I’m not here for nothing
He’s up to something
He’s not finished with me yet
He’s not finished with you yet
He’s not finished with us yet”
Praise the Lord for that truth!