Monday, January 10
by Karen Robert
I thought I would finally get away from showing Holiday cards since it’s well past Christmas. It’s time to talk about weddings. Not the season you say? Au contraire. I was inspired by a posting at eastsidebride.com to think about winter weddings. A bride wrote in this week asking about what sort of dress she should wear for a winter wedding in Chicago. It got me thinking about how I would do a winter wedding. Where would it be, what I would wear, what HE wear? What would be the theme, the look, the cake and finally about what sort of invitation would I send? Here is where my musings took me.
First of all I would start with the classic winter wedding at a castle, this one is in England, but what having a wedding in Scotland or Sweden? Oooh, what about Moscow, that way we would be sure to have snow.
Photo by Digitally Different
Then maybe I could get married in a Russian Orthodox Church, and I could wear a crown and get married in Russia.
photo by travel webshots
If I had a Russian style wedding I could use an invitation like this, purple could be a fun color to add in with red for a wedding.
Card by Hohumcards.com
Here is a bride who chose to have bridesmaids in purple. Purple looks great against the snow.
But alas, I am not Russian Orthodox and I have no connection to Russia. I think I would just choose somewhere snowy in the countryside or mountains at a place like this. Yes, that’s more me, having a beautiful winter wedding at a chapel in the countryside in the mountains.
Since that’s the case then I would definitely want to keep warm, so I would need gloves and a coat….
Photo By Mary Dougherty
…and I would absolutely incorporate white fur into my wedding outfit. While we’re at it, I would get fur for the bridesmaids as well because I don’t want them to be cold either
Photo from Frosty Weddings, photo by Michelle Wells
But I think I like a shorter stole for my fur coat, like this one below. Maybe I would have red flowers like her as well? But then I would need accents of red everywhere…hmmm. I’m not sure about that yet. I DO know that I don’t want my groom to wear a red knit cap, although, I am liking the fact that he is looking a bit casual and different…
Photo Found at Frosty Weddings
I would definitely want it to be snowing so I could get a cool shot like this one… the umbrella is great in this picture though maybe it is not that practical for the groom. I DO know that I want my groom to be looking at me this way though when he sees me.
Photo found at Frosty Weddings; Photo by Alison Conklin
I like the idea of train tracks for a photo, but I’m not sure how that works into the wedding itself.
Photo by Alysse Gafkjen
But I like the relaxed way the groom above is dressed in casual black tie, he looks cool. And I also like how, below, the groom looks like quite a dandy wearing an old-fashioned looking version of black tie in very long tails and a bowler. I wonder if my groom would go for it? I still like the idea of having a SLIGHTLY Russian wedding look by wearing a long jacket like this bride’s below over my wedding dress.
Found at OffbeatBride.com photographed by Anna Kovaleva
Or maybe my groom has a bit of Scottish blood and would go for wearing a kilt ?
Photo by David Lowerson
I love the fact that the bride is wearing boots here, but I would prefer fur boots for my wedding outfit like these below. So I guess that leaves the kilt idea out, my fantasy winter wedding is seeming more snowy and wintery, less Scottish.
Photo by Charlotte Geary
And I’m still wondering if my bridesmaids should wear red…or burgandy maybe? Hmmm, while I like the photo below, I’m starting to think that the strong colors are not really me.
Photo by Jennifer Alder
But I do want some sort of sense of fun, maybe a winter activity would be a good idea to add to the day’s events (and what a great photo-op as well). We could all play hockey after the wedding ceremony….
Photo by one2one photography
or maybe ski….
Photo by Axel Photo
…but I really would not want to be in a ski outfit…too unflattering! Fur it is!
And of course I would have to hire a my friend, Tanya Malott, NY wedding photographer, so I can have amazing pictures like this…
Photo by Tanya Malott
But I would be wearing this fur coat in the countryside instead of underneath the Brooklyn Bridge.
I finally decided about the red. I realized as soon as I saw this cake that I would want my accents to be blue, or silvery, and I would have a cake like this:
image by Media-cake central
In fact, here is the mood board I would use for my wedding….more or less. I love the cheese board, and the blue and silver accents. I like lots of silver ornaments in fact mixed in with the pinecones and other natural elements.
…I love the cashmere sweater over the wedding dress, but I don’t want to give up on the white fur idea.
So, finally for this magical, silver and blue winter wonderland wedding in the snow, what would I do for a wedding invitation? If I were going for a very classic kind of winter wedding invitation I may choose this:
Personalize it at http://hohumcards.com
Or, if I were going for a modern winter wedding invitation maybe I would choose something like this:
Personlizable at here at hohumcards.com
or this
Or if I were going for a groovy 1950′s sort of invitation I may select this one:
Personlalize it at http://hohumcards.com
But I think my wedding is more of a country casual winter wedding, so I would choose to send out an invitation like this one printed on extra heavy cotton card stock:
Personalize it at here at hohumcards.com
Or maybe this one would be a better color?
And then my winter wedding save the date card could be something like this. If I were tight for cash, maybe I would opt to send it as an e-card, and then I have even more money left over for hot buttered rums as my guests get as they arrive at the reception hall.
Save the date card at Http:/hohumcards.com
Then, after the reception, off we would ride in our sleigh together and we live happily ever after.
(But the driver would be wearing blue).
Friday, November 26
by Karen Robert
After my posting a few days ago on the Sigler family Christmas card using long exposure in their photos, I decided to do a little more research into this new art form. People are calling it light graffiti. It is similar to graffiti tagging, but the good news is that the effect created by the light is no longer visible after the artist moves on. What a great concept to use for your card. An image like this would make for great invitiations, Christmas cards, or even as a way of sending a message like, “I love you” or “will you marry me?” How original would that be?
In order to make light graffiti all you need is a light source, such as a flashlight, light saber, glowstick, blinking LED light or sparklers. For the best results you should use a tripod when taking pictures. The exposure on your camera should be set to between 10 and 30 seconds, but can be as long as you need to get the effect you want. Set the camera to iso100 and close the aperture as much as you can. By standing in front of the camera and moving around you will become nothing more than a blur. Or, if you choose to stay still and interact with the light image, you can still be seen in the photo. Wherever the light is moved a streak of light is created that will show up in the photo later. 
Light graffiti message saying “I am here”
Light Grafitti New Year’s Message
Light Graffiti saying “Happy Holidays”
Light graffiti showing hearts
Light graffiti of a guy losing his cool
Light graffiti of an angel….
…and a devil
Using light to show the statues enjoying a little music,
A Light Ghost resting
A lost city of lights
Light graffiti of pac man
Light Graffiti Spider
Light graffiti of a soccer goal 
Light graffiti of a car chasing a man
Light graffiti of a people crossing a crosswalk 
Light graffiti of a girl showing her aura?
Light graffiti of figure making crop circles
Light graffiti of a rocker and his guitar 
Light graffiti of the word “sky” up in the sky
Light graffiti of a couple using long exposure and light
Light graffiti of a VW van looking ghostly
Of course, with this time of year upon us, I am thinking everyone should go out and make a Holiday card like this, I’m thinking about it…but I have other ideas as well. More to come.
Wednesday, November 24
by Karen Robert
We are throwing our annual football party a few days after Thanksgiving. So I scored and found this old vintage photo to make our invitation.
Pretty Mad Men, right? Don’t you love the way the man and the woman are looking at each other? I feel like she’s thinking “don’t even THINK of messing with me buddy”. I feel like just after this shot was taken she ripped him to shreds, resentful after years of being treated badly in the workplace. Anyway, I am going to be making it available to use as an e-card or as a print card on my site when the programmers are FINALLY finished building it. We are very close to making it work, but sadly, it will be ready a tad bit too late to be up for this Christmas. In the meantime, I’m going to continue to throw out ideas for Holiday cards on this blog to get everyone’s creative juices flowing. More to come, in fact, tomorrow.
I know this is a big weekend for taking that family picture for the cards. It is for us. (My kids are so NOT excited). One thing to keep in mind, have a plan before you bring out the camera, give little kids a prop or an activity for the photo. You can give them a sign that says “Merry Christmas” or each kid letters which spell out NOEL, Or you can write something on their t-shirts, hands, or knuckles. You can also do things like put them on a sled on a sand dune, or have them build a sand snowman, or wrap them in Christmas lights. Whatever you decide to try, just think about it ahead of time and then taking the picture will be MUCH easier. Remember, little kids only give you 5 minutes to take the shot. Use those 5 minutes wisely. For more card ideas and inspiration, go to the Card Gallery and take a look at all of the cool cards I’ve been collecting over the years. These will not be for sale on the site, they are other people’s wonderful cards from previous years. On this side of the site I am merely a connoisseur of amazing Holiday cards.
Happy Photos & Happy Thanksgiving
Wednesday, October 6
by Karen Robert
Turquoise, Aqua, Robin’s Egg blue, whatever name you want to call it, it is my favorite color. Hands down. It is a color half way between blue and green, both of which are very peaceful and soothing colors in their own right. But when combined they make the wonderful color turquoise which is, in my mind, is the most soothing color of all. The color of the Caribbean, swimming pools and robin’s eggs, how could it be anything else but tranquil? Whenever I design invitations, I seem to always tend towards this pale greenish-blue color. I almost need to force myself to design invitations in other colors. Here are some of my favorite invitations we have designed in this yummy color.
This invitation I designed for a beach party as you can guess.
The above invitation is in a bold and graphic pattern an aqua color.
I had fun with this one, it’s an invitation for a children’s or an adult magic party with a rabbit in a top hat on a turquoise background.
This Baby Shower party invitation has a nostalgic feel with an old photo I found of a 1950′s baby shower. It couldn’t be against any other background color than this aqua turquoise color. It gives it the right vintage feel. 
Here is another baby shower invitation, maybe this color is more blue than aqua now that I look at it. This is for a boy baby shower. (It also comes in pink of course).
Above is another baby shower invitation showing a nest with a robin’s egg…in robin’s egg blue of course. 
An awning striped invitation in, you guessed it, turquoise.
Winter invitation with a snowflake pattern in winter aqua blue.
And I love this one of a plane pulling a banner against a pale blue sky
I’ve posted this invitation in yellow before of a 1950′s style vintage style bathing Beauty. But I like this one in turquoise blue as well.
A sweet turquoise Invitation with pink butterflies. Good for an anniversary or engagement party?
This invitation would also be good for an engagement with two lovebirds in a cage.
And finally, here is an aqua or turquoise blue invitation which would be good for a Christening, engagement or wedding.
I told you I was obsessed by this color. And here I’ve only shown you the invitations….
Thursday, September 9
by Karen Robert
I know I just said that my next posting would be on turquoise invitations, but I got waylaid by a posting I just saw at YoungHouseLove.com showing an idea for a room interior in yellow and grey. From Fashion styles to interior design schemes it seems that yellow and grey is the fresh new color combination. I thought that maybe some of you are planning a party around that pretty new yellow dress you just bought or the sunny living room you just designed. In case you are, I thought I’d share a few invitations I’ve designed in the yellow and grey color scheme.
This one is a twenties style floral, it’s great for a Save the Date card:
This one is a bit more modern in yellow awning stripes. I was inspired by a room I saw a while ago featured in cherishtoronto.blogspot.com showing a room done in yellow awning stripes.
But I couldn’t decide if it should have that white box, so I just designed another one with the same wide yellow stripes but without the white box. It’s amazing how changing the font makes the card have a completely different feel. On my site you will be able to change the font yourself.
This yellow floral invitation is one of my favorites. I love how fresh and modern it looks:
This invitation is quite modern as well, using a bamboo pattern which I love. It is not actually yellow and grey, but you could choose to have the font in grey or black which would look great.
And here is another yellow and grey invitation with a more graphic pattern:
And finally here is a card which is a greeting card rather than an invitation. I thought would be nice just to send to someone who needs a lift. To make someone happy, yellow is the color to do it:
Thursday, July 29
by Karen Robert
I love Shagreen…on everything. I was a decorator for years, so I fell in love with this exotic material. For those of you who are not familiar with Shagreen, it is made out of the skin of stingrays. (Supposedly, they are not a threatened species). Here is a close-up of it:
Image from Access.Decorati.com. Notice how it’s all pebbly. Shagreen is tough as nails which is why it is so sought after, and it’s hard to work with which is why it’s so expensive. In fact, shagreen is often referred to as the most luxurious material amongst furniture aficionados.
Europe began importing objects covered in shagreen in the 17th and 18th centuries. The skins were mainly dyed green, polished with shellac and used as a veneer. This is why it came to be known as “shagreen” (Shellac + Green). Shagreen became wildly popular through French furniture makers during the height of the Art Deco era as they sought to fuse the French tradition of quality workmanship with exotic and precious materials. Many designers like Ruhlmann, Jean Michel-Frank, and Clement Rousseau embraced this exotic skin for making their furniture. The shagreen desk below is by Jean Michel Frank.
Modern furniture makers seem to have rediscovered shagreen. This desk is by Augousti which sells at Barney’s New York. Owners Ria and Yiouri use shagreen unsparingly in many of their designs. I discovered this desk because it was featured at HabituallyChic.blogspot.com
Since the sting-ray skin is so expensive, historically you find it covering only small objects like these boxes below.
This Suite of Green Shagreen Boxes from Mecox Gardens was featured on MaterialGirlsBlog.com
But if you like Shagreen and but don’t like the huge price tag, never fear. Faux shagreen is everywhere. Check out the beautiful boxes and frames below which were also featured in GiftandHometoday.blogspot.com. These are made by Vellum, and they also make barware and trays. Colorways include sea glass, vintage green, pearl, chocolate brown, gray and red.
These gorgeous and chic box of pencils below come from Dransfield & Ross. They are very chic and sophisticated and presumably not the kind of pencils you sharpen. I found these featured on BeckDesignBlog.com
It seems that amost all high end decorators make use of shagreen somehow. If designers can’t get their clients to pay the hefty price tags for the shagreen furniture, they turn to other ways to get the effect , for example by using this Victoria Hagan rug. It was featured on the blog JessicaClairesWorld.com
Decorators also decorate the walls with a shagreen faux paint effect or use one of the many wallpapers which have this pattern as well. This wallpaper is by GP and J Baker, but there are many more. It is a little hard to see here, but you get the idea. 
I did my powder room in a gorgeous torquoise blue shagreen wallpaper which is now discontinued or I would have shared it with you. Every time I look at it I think to myself how much I love it. It finally inspired me to think of invitations. I did a search and, surprisingly, couldn’t find any invites which make use of the shagreen pattern. So I decided to make a few myself. First I designed this invitation mimicking a shagreen frame.
and then I did this invite thinking that shagreen goes quite well with a beach theme:
Hope you like them. Happy Shagreen.
Tuesday, May 25
by Karen Robert
Since I do not make wedding invites at the moment, I thought it would be a good idea to pass on some of my favorite high end designers here in New York City. The best custom designers print with letterpress, which is done by using plates and impressing them onto the paper. Letterpress is considered the highest quality of printing, but it is also the most expensive. Designers of letterpress invites understandably need to be of the highest caliber, because each card can cost upwards of $3. What I like about the following designers is that they are classic, yet innovative. A good invitation designer will steer you in the right direction for correct wording, but they will also help you break the rules… just a little bit. As Dorothy Parker once said, “A little bad taste is like a dash of paprika.” Now, I’m not looking for bad taste…just a little something different, unique and special.
The first company is called Ceci New York. They are VERY high end and their prices are…extreme. But the quality is the absolute top. They often add layers of elements, like this wedding invitation with a bird cage theme. 
The envelope opened to reveal the bright purple birdcage sleeve containing the invitation. Guests opened the door to see the orange bird underneath. Both the birdcage sleeve and band were lasercut out of paper. Yummy.
For the next invitation Ceci New York combined many printing techniques and materials – from multi-level blind embossing, letterpress, plexi glass, foil stamping and hand painted watercolor to create this amazing wedding invitation for a destination wedding in Guatemala. The save the date cards are made to look like tickets.
This next invitation for a wedding in Hawaii combines surf’s up sensibility with chic execution – from the bamboo belly band that wraps around to the personalized pirate map on the back of the invitation. The anchor logo had a rustic charm while the color combination of warm red and olive kept the fun spirit alive. All graphics were inspired from vintage tiki Hawaiian fabrics, old surf posters and pirate maps.
For this wedding invitation in Cuba, classic Cuban chic meets modern style. This invitation was designed for Bride & Bloom magazine. It was sent in a custom made cigar box which was laying in a bed of cigars with matching cigar labels with the the bride’s and groom’s names and wedding date. Menus and escort cards were made to match. This is such over-the-top wedding invitation. I can only imagine how extravagant the wedding must have been. You can imagine the excitement of a guest receiving this in the mail.
Another designer I am keen on is Nicola Darrach who owns Lettuce Paper. I found her through my friend Tanya Mallott, who is a very high end destination wedding photographer. I was looking for help with designing some cards, so I thought, who better than Tanya knows the best designers out there. Nicola very kindly agreed to design a few cards for my site, lucky me, because I have found that she has impeccable taste. Her cards are more simple and understated than Ceci New York’s are, yet she shows an amazing attention to details, like in this invitation. In the liner of the envelope in a yummy orange she has added a silhouette of the bride and groom. You can’t see it very well here, but these invitations are on very thick paper and edged in turquoise. When you hold them, they feel incredibly chic. I also love her choice of calligraphy, each card looks as if it were hand written…very refined.
This next wedding invitation has a nautical theme. I love the mussels. Who knew that the lowly mussel could look so chic when on letterpress paper? Notice the stamps which all look nautical, but almost as if it were by accident. And also notice the gold wax stamp which holds the belly band together and lifts the darkness of the black color. I love the fact that they chose black for wedding invitations. It’s surprising which is what makes them so wonderful. It’s like what I said about “a little dash of paprika..” Breaking the rules can be a good thing sometimes. 
On this last invitation, I love how Nicola combined two completely different patterns. This wedding invitation is bold, yet still subtle and tasteful. And the saying is wonderful. Nicola loves doing custom work and is reluctant to come up with a line of cards, preferring to do all of her work custom for her clients. Designing is “the fun part” she says. She doesn’t stop until her clients are satisfied, often giving them many different designs to choose from. I love that she has not sacrificed custom work to become more commercial like so many other card designers have done.
Finally, my last top wedding invitation designer is Bella Figura. Not only does this company have beautiful and interesting letterpress designs, but they are also green. Their shop is wind-powered, carbon neutral, and they donate 1% of sales to environmental causes. Also, they print each custom wedding invitation only on 100% tree free paper. Since no trees used to make your invitation, you can relax and feel eco-frendly about sending out 200 save the date cards, invites and thank you cards. (As long as growing cotton doesn’t affect the environment).
The other good news is that Bella Figura also has invitations with great graphic designs like this one in a bold orange color. And look how thick the paper is.
The pictures of these invites show how letterpress actually presses into the paper and indents it as it lays on the color. The quality of the printing and the pattern make me drool.
I lied, I have one more company to show you. While this company is not a New York based company, I couldn’t resist adding them in to this posting since this wedding invitation with peacocks caught my fancy. It is called Paper Olive and it is based out of Los Angeles (that other coast). 
I love the addition of the peacock feather, it is delightful. The colors of peacock would be the colors I would choose at my next wedding. Er…not that there WILL be another wedding. I just realized that these are the colors I have decorated my house in, so I ‘ll just settle for that. If any of you young brides-to-be are lucky enough to hire one of these designers for your wedding, please let me know. I’d LOVE to see what they designed for you.
Friday, April 30
by Karen Robert
I am still on my Vintage Invitation kick using photos of pin-up girls in bathing suits. I am thinking that this one is good for a girl’s night out invitation, a beach party or a spa party. Maybe it would be good for a bachelor party as well, but are guys into vintage 195o’s? Or is that a girly thing?
For this card, I hand tinting the photo and added a few graphics. I am also making it in mint green, turquoise blue and pink. I am doing a lot of color variations because, quite frankly, I am in love with it.
OK, more vintage cards coming right up. I am quickly becoming obsessed with this new look.
Until tomorrow.
