You ORDERED invites...WHAT!?

I ordered the invites for the Rehearsal Dinner and the "Reception Only" invites from Vista Print to save some time. While I was so looking forward to designing them myself, I just am running out of time and can't catch up. Especially with the new found family drama that has left me in a whirlwind of e-mails and phone calls for the past 2 days.

I have to say, like all the other items I have ordered from Vista Print in the past several years I was very happy! All the designs came with matching envelopes which tickled me pink because I love coordinating stationary!

Here's the Rehearsal Dinner invites, we're having a Hawaiian theme where proper dress is required and those who do not comply will be made to wear something uncomfortable and embarrassing ;-)

And here are the reception only invites. Now before anyone gets their Thongs in a Tangle - we're not selfish, present seeking jerks who are only inviting people to the reception in hopes they bring us a gift. We have 25 or less of these going out to co-workers of both Mr S and his father, due to the size of my family we can't fit everyone in the hall for dinner.

Only one snag in the Vista Print order - they only sent me 11 of the 30 of these I needed so they are immediately making me 20 more, and shipping them off to me to be here by Tuesday! They honestly have some of the best customer service ever, though it would be nice if the receptionists had some tone to their voices...I felt like I was talking to a very corporative robot...LOL!

Crazy.....about designing

Because I'm a total nut case I decided to take on a huge task during my own wedding planning - create and design from scratch someone else's wedding invites and stationary. Someone I didn't know, never met other then on the computer.....

Luckily I got to work with a really fun, and understanding girl, who wasn't one of those demanding Bride-Zillas! Phew! Seriously, if I had to deal with a bride...like me for instance, I would have flipped!

My Bride had a very specific design in mind, one that I couldn't find a graphic anything even close to use for her design - so I had to draw it from hand, by looking at some sample invites she sent me for inspiration. That was one of the most time consuming parts of all this.

Here's a little sample of what her dream and my designing came up with.

She's making a type of pocket fold invite, something similar to mine. And since she decided she wanted the same script font as me, and the same RSVP - they look similar in a few way! But it kept at least a few things easy for me!

The Main Invite

The Thank You Card

Inserts, as they will appear once printed and stacked

The Menu

I had a great time making these for her! I can't wait to see what they look like printed on Opal Star Dream paper and accented with the champange and blue!


Credits:
*Design Idea sent to me by Bride,
*Thank you Mrs Lemon again for your Awesome RSVP - it goes onto please even more!!!
*All other design created by myself using PhotoShop CS2

I've neglected you!

I am so sorry everyone! Things have been a little busy, all non-wedding realated these days!

I'm waiting on my step dad (still!) to fix the printer so I can do the assembly of the invites blog. My daughter turns 4 today!! And we are having a big party on Friday. My FMIL has touch of pneamonmia after comeing home from a trip to Europe. Alex has been traveling for work more and we were very sick last week - Paige and I...

Wow...that's a lot. So to make it up to you I bring you two little gifts......

#1 - check out these Thank You cards I made for My friend and fellow Bee Michelle, who's getting married on SARURDAY! Holy cow, right?! SHe wanted something simple and wouldn't you know I just so happen to be really good at simple :-)

They are made to order through Vista Print - if anyone needs something contact me! I'm happy to make you anything you need, at an EXTREMELY reasonable price!

Sorry for the funny border - for some reason it's not going all the way around....weird...

AND #2- if thats not enough for you - I give you my photographers blog, on which you can see some AMAZING pregnancy photos of my sister who is due the end of this month with her first baby, a little girl she plans to name Kati (Kah-Tee-Ah)

Kari Layland Photography Blog

Look around and you're sure to find Mr S and I too ;-)

Need Help With Save The Dates,Thank Yous, Any Wedding Stationary!?

Well, let me help!

It completely escaped me until today that (ohmygosh!) I create and sell photo cards! I have a home business that I put on the back burner to plan the wedding and care for my daughter, but I have the great talent that I can hand over to your guys for a fraction of what you would pay elsewhere.

So here's my offer to my fellow Hive members and my blog readers:

I'll create you a personalized Save The Date, Thank You Cards, hang tags for your favors, EVEN Wedding Invite for you to print as you wish, where you wish - for the low low price of $35.00!

So instead of paying per card at other places for up to $1.75 -$2.00 each you pay a flat rate with me and print it where you want - saving HUNDREDS!

EXAMPLE:
-So say you buy Save The Dates at Lil' Duck Duck on line and you get 100 - You would spend $220.00 for 5x7 cardstock Save The Dates. (NOT including shipping)

Me Design it for you, with Kinkos printing and paper cost you would spend about $90 total!

OR

Me Design it for you and you order from a photo printer (like a photo card in a 5x7) www.mpix does them for .89 - for 100 that's $89.00!

That's a saving of $130 either way!!!


Here's a few of my samples, remember everything is 100% customizable, change color, font, wording - whatever! And I'll send more samples by request.

I can do anything you like, so find me samples of what you want and we'll talk! E-mail me at acgrundman@gmail.com

*Please note that prices quoted are approximate. Kinkos prices and mpix prices are located on their web site. I am not responsible for price changed made by them.

Holiday Card shown here but this is an awesome layout for Thank Yous as well!

Change any wording to suit your needs! Need a Thank you, but like this lay out - you got it!

Babies, Parties, Bridal Showers, Thank You Cards - ANYTHING!

Please e-mail me with questions.
Note that the $35.00 does not include custom designs from scratch (meaning no layout to look at or design I already have), or elements I do not already have (i.e trees, blossoms - things of that nature)

The Verdict Is In

I got my orders from Vista Print today...well they actually came yesterday and I never checked the mail. Talk about L-A-Z-Y!

I ordered their folded note card in both the matte finish and linen finish. They offer glossy as well, but I hate all those fingerprints that show up because of the coating...blech!

I was on the "eh" side with the matte. They were nice, usable. Martha would probably ripped them up, dyed them, dried them and then made some type of centerpiece with them. Never would she have mailed them out...lol

The linen on the other hand was exactly what I was hoping for. Clean, crisp, classic, with a hint of formality and with my uploaded design (plus a heck of a lot cheaper then those fancy pants catalogs.)

Only one downfall - on the back of the card, printed near the bottom is their web address. Not to thrilled about this and seeking out ideas for covering it up. I am possibly thinking a small sticker that says something like "Created by Amber Sweeney" or something....

I certainly will not skip ordering from them because of it, I'm sure I'm the only one who will really notice it in the end anyway. Isn't that they way it always is?

Check them out at www.vistaprint.com They have al ot of great deals and often give things away for free. And if you're in the market for a new design of some sort, don't forget this is what I do on the side to make a meager living and I'm more then happy to discuss creating something for you at a reasonable price - seriously reasonable....catch me by responding to this post with a way of contacting you!

Chaio for now!

Suddenly Stationary

I've been designing our stationary for the past few days. It's been a lot of fun, and much cheaper then ordering it from high priced catalogs!

I started by searching for fun, thank you cards and found nothing I liked. Well, nothing I liked that I would shell out $45 a set for! Sheesh!

So I started up my trusty Photo Shop CS2 and started creating. A bit later I had the card to the left.

It matches our invites, and every other aspect of the wedding and it's both simple and elegant!

I am ordering 2 sets of 10 from Vista Print to see if I like the matte or linen finish better. I can get 100 of them for under $100 which, from what I found price wise - is a steal!

I also took advantage of their free return address lables, designed up some to match and ordered away! I probably won't use them for the invites, but Alex and I don't have any return address labels, so for the low, low price of FREE - why not?! Check it out:



Lastly, I've run into the issue of getting the return address on to the wedding invite envelope. My printer has a temper and I don't like dealing with it. Envelopes come out with the printing not straight and sometimes with streaks and such. And since I'm planning to use Stardream brand metallic envelopes - I am not going to even attempt it more then likely. My issue was that I wanted the font to match the invite and custom rubber stamps with script fonts on them can be tricky and hard to read.

To help solve the problem I created this label and ordered 250 for $24 from www.uprinting.com, if it doesn't look right, then I have some more great post wedding address labels!! I have a feeling it will be more then fine however.

These particular labels are 2x2 inches. They do all custom
shapes and sizes and their prices are unbelievable!

Now my last issue is getting the address on the front of the envelope with out using my printer. Looks like I'll be either buying a new printer (not an option! LOL) or spending a lot of time at my step dad's office and my future MIL's house running things off!

And lastly I'll show off my RSVP card I am IN LOVE with. I can't take all the credit for it though, Mrs Lemon on Wedding Bee was the original creator and I used her layout and made it work for me. THANK YOU MRS LEMON!

We had some issues to cover with the RSVP, I needed to know specific names and what food choice they were having because our hall requires us to label the place setting for the waiters sanity! However I also needed to make sure that I didn't get back those "I'll be bringing my entire extended family" response. So, thankfully Mrs Lemon spent a lot of time studying the success rate of questionnaires based on how easy they were to understand and follow. She had a good success rate with her version of this and I hope to as well.
Of course the food choices are not complete yet as we've not done the tasting, but this give the idea. And now when I do have the final menu items all I have to do is input them and I'll be done with the design process!!!