Guest Post – Pretty Pairings from Paloma’s Nest

Today is our 5th and final guest post from none other than the genius behind Paloma’s Nest, Caroline Vasquez.  Caroline and I “met” a few years back on twitter and soon met for real to vision this Johnny Cash shoot for Southern Weddings Magazine.  Caroline is a great source of inspiration as she is the epitome of artist in all she says and does.  Her passion for crafting true heirlooms for weddings and beyond is the foundation for her iconic brand.  I am overjoyed to welcome Caroline today and have her share a touch of her awesomeness with you!!

First, a huge thank you to Kristy for welcoming me to Rice Ink! What an honor to blog here for her today. Kristy is a colleague and a friend whom I admire so much- her talent and drive in creating fresh, innovative stationery is a treat for the eyes and a joy to know!

There is often one element of your wedding planning that inspires every other detail. Just like a favorite chair may inspire the interior design of a whole room,  a color or special image can lead to the perfect choices for your celebration.   For those of us who love Momental Designs and their show-stopping hand painted invitations, that source of inspiration is sure to be one of Kristy Rice’s bold flowers or carefully sketched blooms.  So how can you carry that grand inspiration beyond just decor? Consider dressing the part!

I browsed many easy-to-find stores and put together some examples of how you may bring the invitation artwork you love so much to your closet and fashion for your big day.

Milano Heel

Look for a fun floral party skirt to wear to your rehearsal dinner (these would also be a fun look for your bridesmaids)!

A pair of wonderful flowered shoes may be the perfect surprise detail to go with your gown. Flats or heels, bold or subtle, there are so many options available to make your toes happy.

J. Crew Flats

A soft printed cardigan would be so sweet draped over your shoulders on the night of your reception- one last beautiful splash of flowers and color for the night.

Anthropologie Sweater

Rosette Slingbacks

If you are in the decorating phase of your event planning, or have moved on to the tiny details, your hand painted wedding stationery may be just the place to look for a wealth of design inspiration!

Rachel C.

A look at the original watercolor painted created for your wedding invitations!

Sarah A.

Bettina J.

Lovely soft palette…

Tyler Arboretum, Tree Wedding Invite, Vases of flowers, Cake, Watercolor Texture

My Story is Art – An Inspiring Snapshot

A small shop Frontier Plunder nestled at the entrance to Zion National Park is near and dear.  This place is bursting at the seams with authentic finds ranging from chili ristras to hand carved leather gun holsters.  At every turn and each visit something new comes into view and the shop’s owner Harriert has a new story to share. This time I learned her sweet, unassuming cat was bit by a rattlesnake and lived to purr about it!!

This time I was wandering about the shop’s courtyard and snapped this simple shot.  Blue sky, aged whitewashed shutters and mustard hued adobe walls all painted a perfect palette of inspiration.

I’ve been blogging over at Envelopments, so check in soon there to see an invitation design created with this snapshot in mind!!

Guest Post – Spitfiregirl Stationery

Today I am thrilled to introduce a very special gal.  Heidi from Spitfiregirl Design is the genius behind our lovely website.  This lady has a killer combination of skills that range from creating intuitive branding and business identity to a decidedly artful approach to web design.  Her keen eye and clean style are just the reasons I asked her to guest blog today.  Enjoy!

Kristy, thank you so much for inviting me to guest post today. Aside from being a fun diversion from work, it’s also a sweet walk down memory lane…today happens to be my 2 year wedding anniversary! So what better way to celebrate – aside from a glass of bubbly with my honey – than to reminisce on all the wedding collateral I created. Here’s a little bit of the journey…

When I was planning our wedding, I knew one of the most important elements was the print material. Even more important than my dress! So I spent months researching, sketching, shopping, printing (gocco, offset and digital), sewing, and even laser diecutting our wedding suite. It was a LOT of work, but truly a labor of love.

My visual inspiration was the hummingbird. They’ve always been my good luck charm and I seem to have the good fortune to see them frequently. These beautiful little sprites symbolize love and happiness, and was the perfect design element to integrate into our garden chic wedding that we had here.

From a design perspective, I was really inspired by Tord Boontje, Rob Ryan, faux bois, silhouettes and wood type. Our color palette was shades of peach, pink and chocolate brown. The save the dates above were created using Gocco (love!), simple laser printing on the back and hand-assembled.

My good friend Tim, of Pina Zangaro graciously let me use his amazing laser diecutting machine to create the invitation cover. It took about 7 hours, and over 2 days to create all the covers. The interiors of the invitation were offset printed and assembled by myself and some dear friends.

I gocco’d the covers and then to cut costs, printed the interior spreads off my color printer. Then I assembled and sewed the programs together. In addition to the invitation suite I also created our program covers (stamp & color printing), welcome kits and all the signage. Phew…I’m tired just thinking about it!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little wedding journey. Thanks again to the MOD girls for including me!

~Heidi, Spitfiregirl Design

Photography by Blonde Tulip

Karolina Z.