Well, the time is finally here. After over a year of planning two celebrations to for our 10th anniversary renewal, the PA party invitations are finally on their way to guests. Being a lover of all things paper, I took every opportunity possible to infuse hand painted, handmade paper goodness into this event. From the hand painted letterpress save the dates, painted landscape Utah ceremony invites to now my beloved novel invites, no painted or paper detail was left overlooked.
Jessica Claire wowed everyone last year with her cutaway, sewn and letterpressed book invitations. She lovingly hand picked books for their stunning texture, color and content. The mindful act of choosing, assembling and embellishing each book communicated love to each of her guests. Thank you Ms. Claire for inspiring me in the first place. I hope to not step on your toes with my book invitations but instead honor the lovely idea and create my history in a new voice.
In January my parents, the hubby and I took one of our junking trips as my Mom likes to call them. I prefer antiquing, but whatever… 🙂 A favorite spot is the Black Diamond Antique Mall in Pottsville. It is literally the size of a mall and the prices are reasonable, the perfect recipe for a well intentioned day of treasure hunting. Very near the end of our trip that day I passed by this dusty set of striking books. I picked up a few and noticed they all had western style titles like “The Light of Western Stars” and “The Fugitive Trail”. I was intrigued. The colors were stunning. The water stained covers enchanting and the lovely book smell drew me in, especially after my recent Kindle purchase. Zane Grey is a prolific Western author who has spent a good deal of time writing in Pennsylvania, oddly enough. Since we hoped to introduce our PA party guests to some Western flair, I knew I must include these books somehow. The hubby took one look at me and knew exactly the schemes swirling in my mind at that moment.
So the idea goes…I called on Betsy Dunlap to create a frame of text…essentially a repeat of the words “Kristy and Adam 10 Years” I then added a cosmo illustration and had the artwork sent to a stamp maker. Each book was stamped with the cosmo/text image and then meticulously hand painted in shimmering acrylic shades of crimson, orange and several shades of green. I chose a vintage palette and purposely muted the paint strokes to give the artwork an always-been-there look and feel.
Each book has been packed away and is awaiting delivery to the post office this afternoon. The finished look is a secret I am saving until later!
Thank you, thank you Betsy for your artistry infused throughout our stationery. I feel blessed to have worked with you and cannot wait for our next project, whatever it may be! A big thank you to Mom, for working tirelessly with me the last two nights to get these lovelies complete – you are the best!
