Bridezilla

I promised myself 6 months ago when I started this whole wedding adventure that I would never be "that bride." You know, the bride that painstakingly took the time to write a little thank you note on the back of every escort card while she was in the middle of getting her hair done. Or tried on a million dress and shoe combinations to find the perfect match so she would look absolutely stunning in her wedding pictures. That wasn't me. Or at least I thought it wasn't. I never grew up thinking my wedding day was going to be a pivotal, earth-shattering, life-changing event. Sure, I knew it was a special day, but I always pictured it as a really big, fun party, rather than a 6 course meal with programmed entertainment. But somehow, over the past 5 months, between the 8 pairs of off-white shoes I ordered online (which I will sadly admit, I still can't find a pair I like) and the massive ball of Christmas lights I have yet to untangle, I'm realizing I've become that bride.

My living room

My house is full of center pieces, fabric scraps, Christmas lights, gift bags, Chinese take out boxes... The list feels endless to me. Pandora's box was opened the minute Jen and I started on my Save The Dates and now there's no turning back. What's odd about this whole epiphany, is that I'm actually enjoying these projects. No one told me I had to collect vintage glass for my centerpieces or that I should make my own dessert display. It just...happened one day and my to-do list keep getting longer. Part of me thinks it's the designer side of my personality that can't live with half-baked decorations and I'm sure the control freak in me can't just let anyone organize the seating. My wedding decor has become quite the obsession and I don't think I'll be able to shake it until the big day arrives.

The vintage glasses and jars I'm collecting

The good (and bad) news is that I have 1 month to finish all of my projects. And honestly, when it's all said and done, no one will remember that I crafted my cupcake stands out of old plates and candle holders, or that the sign in book was just that, a book. Not the Polaroid keepsake I was hoping to create. Guests just remember the food and possibly the music. So to make myself feel better about my crazy crafting (and to bond w/ other fellow brides, pre or post wedding) my next few blog entries will be about my wedding decorations. I hope to inspire some and bring back memories for others that have gone through this crazy dementia during their engagement period. And if you have no clue what I'm talking about, then I hope you at least enjoy the pictures.

-LG

Green Eggs and Fam

So, last week I had my first family visit since we've been in SF. It was non-stop fun with my in-laws, and I saw so much of the city that I hadn't seen yet. Of course, in the midst of our cable-car riding, museum-going, and sourdough bread gorging, my 8-year-old sister-in-law made sure that we didn't forget the most important activity of the weekend: painting easter eggs! It had been years since I'd done this, and I forgot how much fun it is. Not to mention funny smelling. Vinegar + hard-boiled eggs = a lot of fart jokes from the 8-year-old. (Okay, and the 29-thru-65-year-olds.)



Already prepping for next year, when I think I'll step up my egg game and do some Washi Eggs with Japanese papers.

{ photos via: tower.com, nicole carlson, flickr, sandy carlson }

Now, that is some yummy, eggy paper goodness. Yay-err.


} jp-c

Who doesn't love a baby elephant?

A few months ago we created these darling cards for a repeat customer of ours. She was hosting another baby shower for a close friend of hers and wanted something similar to what we did for her the first time she used our services. Our customer didn't want anything too girly or frilly and she loved the idea of cream and chocolate brown for the color scheme. Somehow, during our meeting, baby elephants popped into our heads and she told us to run with it. The cards instantly turned into a fun elephant family, holding each others tails. Not sure if you can see the detailing (we may have to take some more photos) but there is a cream stitch around the edge of the card and the elephants all have different patterns for their ears. Cute.

Savannah, here we come.

Hello, friends. Just wanted to post our latest and greatest: Lisa's wedding invitations! With her color scheme of all different shades of greens, we had a blast picking out fabrics and patterns that would work. Let me tell you, when you own your own stationery company, there's some pressure to pizazz with your own invitations. And for Lisa's, we pulled out all the stops: 2-color letterpress invitations with a lattice trim detail, letterpressed reply cards, and customized maps of Savannah, all tucked neatly in a super cute handmade, reusable fabric pouch. The design features the fountain on the square where Lisa and Justin will be married, and it just makes me more excited for their big day in May. Here's a look at the little guys, stay tuned for more posts as the wedding plans come along.





} jp-c

Warm Fuzzies

It's funny how the little things in life let us know that we are doing the right thing by following our dreams of creating beautiful invitations. A simple thank you note, a quick text of encouragement from friends, even just seeing that people are checking out our website.... All of these things make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Today we received the sweetest email from a client who we got to know over the past few months working on her wedding invitations. Here is what she said:

"Ladies - I can't tell you how pleased I am with our invitations! They look amazing and are exactly what I wanted. Randy even thought they were awesome and he is usually clueless about that kind of thing. :) I can tell you guys really put your heart into making them perfect for us. Thank you for caring about my invitations as much as I do! I'm so glad I found you guys."

How sweet is that email???

Funny thing is, her wedding happens to be on the same day as mine, so it was fun comparing notes and discussing plans with one another. She is also having a "destination" wedding in the states, but is headed to Asheville, NC to be married on a gorgeous farm. She wanted her invites to reflect the rustic atmosphere, so you can imagine how much fun we had creating her invites. Here is what they looked like:







We are so glad, yet again, that our brides love their designs. Keep checking out our blog for more work soon!

-LG

Lay-offs and relocations and flus, oh my.

One day, the majority of our posts won't be written apologies for not blogging enough. Today is not that day. We've had a number of major events over here at Farewell that have made the last few months head-spinning to say the least. I was laid off from my day job, Lisa and I had three illnesses between us, and my husband and I decided to relocate to San Francisco--all on top of our busiest client workloads to date. And while we've mended from our "just gimme my last rites already" colds and viruses, applied for our unemployment checks, and even gotten our taxes somewhat together--we're still recovering geographically. So, halfway between my old address and my new one in SF, I'm proud to present Farewell Paperie's first post as an (almost) bicoastal operation.

Hopefully the first of many more to regularly come.

{ Lisa's Save-the-Dates }

The old saying is true. Time flies when you're sharing Thanksgiving before you've even had your first date, driving across country together, meeting each other's parents, moving here, there, everywhere, then moving in together, then five years later, deciding to get married in Savannah, Georgia. At least I think that's how the saying goes.

To show just how much fun Lisa and Justin have had over the years, we decided to do pretty little timeline piece for their save-the-dates. She wanted it to capture the Savannah charm, feel like their sense of humor, and look lovely hanging on people's refrigerators. Take a look!

Working in her color palette of all different shades of greens, we mixed and matched the inks and materials to play off each other. Think any old shade of green will do? Not so. We tediously labored over each piece, holding it up to the light, comparing it to this, matching it to that. People at Michael's thought we were a little OCD, but in the end, a lovely harmony of green goodness.

Letterpressed covers. Yum.

Cute button detail. Double yum.

Lime-but-not-too-limey green stitching detail.

We're so excited with how these turned out! A guest of the wedding called Lisa and said that they were so pretty, she never wanted to throw it away. Lisa told her it's okay, she could save their date even after the wedding passes. We hope everyone does!

**Already almost finished with Lisa and Justin's invitations, can't wait to share those soon. Here's a little taste.










Cheers!

} jp-c

New Years Resolutions (A month late)

With every new year comes new resolutions. Last year we really didn't have any, we just knew we wanted to get our business up and running and prayed that things would run smoothly. But since we are one year older (and wiser) we thought it best to at least make a list of promises to ourselves and our clients to help us stay on track for 2010.

1. We promise to update, update, update. The last 2 months have been a bit hectic. Our Jingle and Mingle event was a success, we have had more orders come in for custom wedding suites, and of course, we have been working diligently to get my Save the Dates out the door for my wedding in May. With all that going on, we've been kinda slack in the updating department, so we promise more updates come in the near future. Stay tuned for my Save the Dates and other fun custom work that we have been working on.

2. We promise more social networking. Tweeting, face-booking, blogging and all that is like a second job! (I guess this kinda goes back to number 1, so we'll keep on top of that.) Jen just got a beautiful camera for her birthday from her dad, so we know we'll have great pictures to show of our work soon. She just needs to figure out how to work the dang thing. ha ha.

3. We promise to get more of our retail cards into stores this year. The Jingle and Mingle event gave us the taste of the boutique retail world and we loved it. We cannot wait to get started on our very own line of cards. We have so many ideas floating around in our heads and so many scribbled pieces of notebook paper full of sketches that we know our new work will be enjoyed by everyone... at least we hope so! We'll keep documentation of what is going on with that part of our business as well, so I guess that goes back to number 1 and 2 of our list... again.

There are some big things happening with Farewell and I guess the main point of this whole blog is to let everyone know that we'll do our very best to keep updating. I mean, we are making our resolutions and throwing them out into cyberspace, so we have to be accountable for what we say on here, right?

We just wanted to add a quick note of thanks our friends, family, and fans. We totally appreciate the endless love and support and we can't wait to see what happens in 2010.

-LG