Melissa and her friends are throwing a shower for their friend Nicole, and they gave me a list of what they wanted to see in an invitation:  blue, brown, green, orange, stripes, and ribbon.  And Melissa loves metallic cardstock, so of course we had to incorporate that as well.  What a combo!  How did it all come together?  Check it out:

The double-layered invitation has a printed backing - stripes of blue, brown, green, and orange frame the invitation text.

I added an orange ribbon accent to the invitation panel and a seal with the baby's initials in the middle.

The girls decided that they needed an insert for additional information, so I printed the stripes as a border instead of layering the smaller card.

I paired the invite with a deep blue metallic envelope, and I added a coordinating wrap-around label so the addresses could easily be read by the post office.

I love the whole suite together - very sharp!

These invitations strike a great balance between masculine and feminine – the script font and the satin ribbon soften the impact of the bold, almost nautical colors and lines.  Many thanks to Melissa and the crew for giving me the opportunity to create these sophisticated shower invitations!  I know the party will be a huge success.

Thanks for staying with me through this whole series of baby showers!  I’ve got more that are currently in production and will be blogged later on… and hopefully I’ll be able to share a whole series of birth announcement designs soon!

One of my first shower invites, the Building a Nest invitation, is still by far my most popular Etsy item.  I’ve customized that invitation suite dozens of ways over the past year, and a customer recently asked for it in yellow.  We were concerned that a pastel yellow would make the text very difficult to read, so I decided to go with a deep, rich gold.  I think it’s gorgeous – so lively and bright!

Building a Nest in Gold

The bright yellow makes this invite perfect for a boy or a girl.

This version makes me want to try out a whole range of saturated colors – wouldn’t Building a Nest look beautiful in red?  Or purple?  Royal blue?  The possibilities are endless!  And if you’re interested in your own customized version of this one, go visit my Etsy store and place an order!

This invitation was designed for my dear friend Katie, who asked me if I would create a shower invitation with a coordinating thank-you note.  I usually like to take inspiration from the expectant mother’s nursery design ideas to create baby stationery, and I knew she was putting together a beautiful room for her baby girl with crystals, white wrought iron, and delicate shades of gray and blue.  We shifted from blue to pink for the shower invite but kept the gray, and the end result was stunning!

The invitation, a triple-layered panel with a ribbon detail and embellishment.

A closer look at the belly band and embellishment, which is a vintage-inspired button. I broke the loop off the back so it would lay flat.

The coordinating thank-you note, with a printed gray and pink stripe across the front and a simple Swarovski crystal embellishment in the middle.

The whole suite looks gorgeous all together! Both the invite and the thank-you were paired with pink metallic envelopes for an extra little bit of sparkle.

It was a joy creating these custom pieces for Katie and her sweet little girl Abby, who made her appearance on September 4th!  Stay tuned for Part Two – more baby showers tomorrow!

I knew that Stacy wanted some sparkle in her invites, so we paired up three gorgeous metallic cardstocks and a handful of crystal embellishments for these lovely gatefolds.  Take a look at how it all came together!

I used the monogram I'd created previously on the oval seal for the tucked-ribbon belly band.

A closer look at the belly band and seal. I love the tucked-ribbon look; it's a ton of extra work, but it's worth it.

The invitation panel was mounted to a pink metallic cardstock mat inside the gold metallic gatefold.

There were five crystal accents on each invitation panel - a pink one in each corner and an amber one in the center.

The inserts all maintained the graphics and fonts from the invitation panel and were mounted to pink metallic cardstock.

The only insert that didn't get a cardstock mat was the RSVP card, because it's paired with a coordinating pink envelope (not pictured).

It was so much fun designing such an elegant set of wedding invitations for what was undoubtedly a gorgeous and detail-rich affair this past June.  Stacy and Shannon, I wish you all the best in your marriage – thank you for the opportunity to create these pieces for you!

Daniella, the youngest in my favorite group of women in the world (she’s the one in the blue sweater), is now an RN!  To celebrate this huge accomplishment, the TKN gals wanted to get her something that we knew she could use in her new profession – cute scrubs!  But since we weren’t sure where she would end up working or what the dress code would be there, we pooled our money and opted for a group cash gift instead.

Giving cash can be kind of awkward, especially when it’s between friends.  I know it’s a great gift to receive, but it can feel impersonal when you’re tucking a few bills into a card.  I like to dress it up a bit if I’m going to give a cash gift.  My grandmother is a master at this – she’ll tape a check to the sole of a pair of slippers, or tuck the bills inside a pair of barrettes.

So in order to dress up Daniella’s group gift, I created this card – it measures 5″x7″ and is styled to look just like a miniature medical chart!

The outside of the card - tan heavyweight cardstock was used to mimic a manila folder.

When you open up the card, the text panels on the inside are set up with medical chart information – both typed and “handwritten” – and there’s a small envelope clipped to the left side that’s the perfect size to hold a few bills.

A wide shot of the inside of the card.

A closer look at the personal message - I used the least legible script font I had to approximate a doctor's penmanship.

A view of the left side of the card with the gift envelope detached.

Ordinarily I wouldn’t bother posting about a card I made for a friend – I make individual cards quite often and don’t generally reproduce them – but I was so excited by the way this one came out that I thought it was worthy of an Etsy listing.  Besides, I can’t be the only person out there with a zillion doctors, dentists, nurses, and PAs in her life!  It’s graduation season, and if anyone out there is looking for the perfect way to present a cash, check, or gift card to a new medical professional, get an order in today!

For this announcement, I took my inspiration from the gorgeous modern nursery that Ramona designed – everything is Texas Burnt Orange and gray, with a circular motif.  Ramona asked for something that was modern, yet classic, and she gave me complete creative freedom with the design.

Here it is!

Isn't he adorable? We had such a hard time choosing just three photos!

A closer look - I love that retro '50s font!

The announcement is a 5.5" square; it's mounted onto a gorgeous matte gray cardstock and paired with an orange square envelope.

The photos of Grayson were taken by the lovely and talented Emmycube Photography.

I’m so excited about this one that I decided to add it to the Etsy store!  It is currently available in four different color combinations – the original orange/gray, of course, and green/gray, blue/gray, and violet/gray.  Each one is mounted to the matte gray cardstock as pictured (because I just love it so much!), and each will be paired with a colored envelope.

Ramona, Nik, and Grayson – thanks so much for the opportunity to create these for you!

Stacy and her friend had already designed and printed magnets for the save-the-dates, and she was looking for a card to attach them to that gave her guests some additional information.  This was an interesting challenge, as I had to find a way to coordinate with her existing design and introduce the monogram and color scheme.

We started with the monogram.  I presented her with three different options:

Monogram #1 - the colors look different on screen, but it prints out as a lovely rose pink/beige combination.

Monogram #2 - a little more sleek and modern

Monogram #3 - a slight variation on #2, more pink, less brown, and capital letters.

Stacy and Shannon chose Monogram #1.  I love the ornate swirls – they give you so many opportunities to embellish with rhinestones or hand-painted accents!

From there, I worked out a design for the A2-sized save-the-date card that incorporated the monogram and used the font from the existing magnet.  Since the monogram is fairly tiny on the card, I changed the text in it to a chocolate brown for more contrast.  The design was printed on my favorite natural white linen pearl cardstock and paired with a beautiful pink metallic euro-flap envelope.  Here’s the end result:

The card, with the attached magnet and coordinating envelope.

A closer look. So shimmery and pretty!

Stacy, I hope all of your guests love them!  I’m looking forward to working with you on the invitations in the coming months as well.

Well, one by one, they’re graduating from pregnant women to actual MOMMIES, and my dear friend Liisa was the first!

Liisa (and I hate to call her by her first name, since I NEVER do, but I want to protect her privacy) and her husband Clovis are the proud parents of an adorable, cuddly, precious little boy they named Xavier.  Throughout her pregnancy, Liisa swore that they were going to name him “Commander” – I think everyone was a little relieved when we found out that he had a real name after all .   I was commissioned to create their birth announcements, and I wanted to do something unique for them.  Something that would reflect their interests, and their personalities… something different.

Clovis and Liisa are both comic book/sci-fi fans, so I worked out a handful of ideas around the phrase “Welcome to Earth, Commander.”  Clovis asked if there was a way to incorporate something from 2001: A Space Odyssey.  I (having never seen the movie) did some Google research, found some very interesting inspiration, and this is the result:

The end result: a mock movie poster based on the original design for the film.

I asked Liisa and Clovis to send me some pictures of Xavier to work with, and the blue blanket worked perfectly to create an Earth-like effect around him!  I paired the A7 glossy flat card with a gorgeous deep blue metallic envelope to enhance the “outer space” feeling.

Another angle - note the movie-themed text and the beautiful metallic envelope.

The comment I’ve received the most about these (well, besides the choruses of “Oh, what a sweet precious adorable baby!”) is that people love the slightly scientific touches with the numbers on the invitation – the date, time, and height.  Those little details are so fun, and they definitely add to the overall effect.

Military time on a birth announcement - now that's unique!

“Commander,” it was an honor to be able to design these for you and help welcome you to the world in such an entertaining and interesting way!  You have the coolest parents on earth.

It was pretty in pink for Erin’s shower… but it’s beautiful in blue as well:

Building a Nest, customized for a recent Etsy order

The Etsy listing is for a set of 10, but I’m always happy to set up a custom order if you’re looking for a different number. Send me an email or a convo any time!

Erin is a dear friend of mine whose daughter Sophia is due in December.  I was so thrilled to be able to do the invitations for her upcoming shower!  She chose one of my favorite color schemes (pink and brown) and let me be creative with the design.

Inspiration comes from the strangest places sometimes.  I opened the trunk of my car and saw a box of leftover decorations from my wedding – these cute little pink and brown birds that I used to decorate my manzanita placecard trees:

Photo by the lovely and talented Zenia of Zenia Photography

(Yes, I know my wedding was almost a year ago, and there is no excuse to still have decorations in my trunk.)

But with that in my head, I created this invitation:

Erin's shower invitation, with coordinating printed envelope.

The double-layered panel, sans envelope.

A closer look at the illustration. I hand-traced elements from four different photos to put it together.

The invitation panel was printed on an ivory metallic linen cardstock and mounted to a 5×7 piece of pink metallic cardstock.  I was worried it would be sparkle overload, but it’s lovely in person, especially with the matching envelope.

I’m adding it to my Etsy shop and offering customization of colors as well as text, so the mommies-to-be who are having boys won’t feel left out.

Erin, it was a joy to create these for you, and I’m looking forward to meeting Sophia soon!