Chalkboard Magic

Before my son was born I was a fifth grade teacher.  I’m still a teacher at heart, so naturally I love writing on chalkboards.  The beautiful sound made by the connection of chalk on slate is musical, along with the sharp contrast of white and black.  Here are some beautiful chalkboard creations, along with my newest invitations collection.

My newest wedding invitations.  Visit my etsy shop for details.

Great option for a program.  {Source}

Seating chart.  {Source}

Photo booth props.  {Source}

Free printable tags from ellinee.com!  {Source}

Place card chalkboard jars I worked on for my client, Johanna.  For plenty of more chalkboard inspiration, follow me on pinterest: chalkboards.

Some Other New Additions to our Shop

My focus the last month or so has been to get more wedding invitations and Christmas cards up on my shop.  Here’s a look at some other new invitation additions to Whoa Nellie Press:

This collection is all hand drawn then scanned into the computer and manipulated in Illustrator.  Perfect for an outdoor garden wedding.

This collection features a Montgolfiers-style hot air balloon and definitely has a vintage vibe.  Perfect for a destination or travel-themed wedding.

Are you in love with color like I am?  Then this invitations suite is perfect!

For more, visit our etsy shop!

Alex’s and Jeremy’s Letterpress Invitations are Here!

Several months ago now, I had an invitation giveaway to launch my wedding invitation business.  I’ve been doing calligraphy for some time now and wanted a new challenge.  In return for my giveaway, Alex worked hard to help me with branding Whoa Nellie Press.  Being a graphic designer herself, Alex has given me plenty of tips, including help with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.  We designed her letterpress invitations suite together, with help from her friend, and illustrator Brooke, and created some pretty darn smashing invitations!  Although we are still working on the response card (as her taste test date is in November) and details card, I couldn’t help but share what’s been printed so far.  What do you think?

While I’m glowing with excitement and in design mode, I’d also love to hear any inspiration ideas for future invitations.  Please share your ideas!  In addition, take a look at our shop, with several wedding invitation suites newly added ranging from bold and colorful, to vintage, to rustic.  I’m so excited to hear your feedback!

This is what’s been printed so far – invitation and response envelope.  The response card and “The Particulars” card is yet to come.  Alex decided to go with the vibrant purple outer envelopes and a mix of fun calligraphy in my Skinny Lucy font.

A close up of the beautiful floral illustration Brooke did to complete the invitation.  I love this style for an outdoor wedding.

Another shot.  To make these invitations I worked on the calligraphy first, scanned the words into Illustrator and then manipulated them from there.

The joining of names using a heart on the response card was Alex’s idea.  So cute!

I am totally beaming with excitement as I proudly show off Alex’s wedding invitations.  We’ve gone back and forth on formatting and I’m just thrilled with the end result.  This invitations suite is for sale on my etsy shop.

My Beloved

Daily inspiration…so sweet!

[Source]

An Apple a Day

With Labor Day coming up and the unofficial start to fall just around the corner, my heart sinks as the carefree days of summer fly by and near their end.  Boo hoo 😦  I keep on reminding myself there are beautiful things in fall (of course), and I really need to focus on those – like apple picking, the beautiful foliage that we are treated to in Upstate New York, cider donuts, (which are totally irresistible), and those crisp warm days with low humidity.  Although they all foreshadow what’s to come next (cold snowy days – which I happen to love, short days with little light – not a huge fan and being able to hit the slopes), this year I’m hoping to embrace autumn, instead of dreading the change in season.  Apples can be a beautiful symbol of love so I wanted to show how these delicious, crunchy and juicy fruits can be incorporated in your wedding.

Favors, of course!  Who wouldn’t want to bite into a mouthwatering caramel or candy apple?  [Source]

Last year I did the calligraphy on these green apple escort cards for Kate.  The green, blue and pink contrast is striking.  [Source]

You must know someone with a crab apple tree in their backyard!  Here’s great DIY project for anyone needing lots of centerpieces for practically no money.  Grab some wooden baskets, or a tall cylinder glass at a craft store and fill with crab apples.  What a great idea!  [Source]

And of course having your wedding at an orchard would be spectacular!  [Source]

A Hand Stamped Wedding

Since Whoa Nellie Press now offers custom calligraphy stamps in our Etsy shop, I wanted to do a blog post on the many ways to incorporate rubber stamps in weddings.  Stamping adds a special touch to all the little details.  Of course stamping the return address on your outer and RSVP envelopes is a great choice to save money on calligraphy, but there are many other uses as well.  Here is some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing!

Hand stamped handkerchief save the dates.  Pretty awesome!  [Source]

This is too cool for words!  Get a custom made stamp from Lilimandrill.  AMAY-zing!  Stamp thank you notes, favors, programs and more with these adorable stamps.

Hand stamped napkins, also for sale on Etsy.  What a nice touch!

A sampling of stamping ideas.  Stamp favor tags, bags and more.  [Source]

Please visit me on Pinterest for more ideas on how to incorporate rubber stamps in your wedding.

Great Option for Return Address Calligraphy

While some brides are excited to have me address the return addresses on all of their envelopes to match the front addresses, it can get a bit pricey.  Many clients have asked if I would make a stamp for their return address so all of the calligraphy can match.  I am pleased to announce we now offer address stamps in our shop!  Most addresses stamps come out to be 4″ X 2″, but other sizes are certainly possible and will be priced accordingly.  In addition stamps can be used for many other details in your wedding including favor tags, thank you notes, and more.  Please look for our next blog post to see how to incorporate stamps in your wedding.  For now, here’s a look at our recent work.

A return address stamp in Sunshine font I made for Johanna.  The gold looks beautiful on the pool colored envelopes.

Johanna’s outer envelopes and RSVP envelopes in Sunshine font.

A close up of our whimsical Sunshine font.

A signature drink menu for Lauren.

Look for future posts on incorporating stamps into your wedding details, a special post on apples, and a post on weddings in Vermont.

Nicole’s Letterpress Menu

I’ve been so honored to work with Nicole throughout the past several months on various calligraphy projects including her save the date envelopes, invitation lettering and envelope addressing, and today I just finished lettering various signage and menu cards. I just had to include a couple of photos of her beautiful letterpress menu place cards. Beautiful!  What do you think?

Save the Date…Just in!

A quick little photo of a save the date I calligraphed for Betsy for her December wedding.  She had it printed on navy stock with gold writing.  I love this combo!

Happy weekend everyone!