A Peek into the Studio – Peacock, Rose and Fleur de Lis Wedding Invitations

It has been a while since my last Peek into the Studio but hopefully these three designs will make up for the absence!  My Versailles swirl created for a client nearly two years ago has truly taken on a life of its own since then.  Originally inspired by an aerial view of Versailles Gardens,  the swirl illustration lends itself to a variety of add-ins that truly personalize the look for a wide variety of projects.

Kim’s swirl pattern incorporated several gold Fleur de Lis throughout the pattern.  An uncommon combination of gold and silver was balanced her by a strong cobalt blue shimmer cardstock border.

Stephanie’s swirl in shades of yellow, apricot and silver was topped with a peachy rose bloom as the focal point.

Nellie chose this swirl look highlighted with elegant peacock feather details.

A Peek into the Studio – Spring is here!

It has been a while since I have given you a peek into the studio.  We are swamped and LOVING every minute of it.  Client projects are shipping daily and I think we owe our UPS guy a massage gift certificate.   The seasons pass before our eyes each year with our invitation designs as a barometer of sorts.  This week I chose four unique projects that we just adored creating.

Miguelina’s posh and bold buckle wedding invitation in shades of fuchsia and orange really grabs your eye!  Anne’s soft and subtle Contrast Painted white peony is stunning against her carefully chosen black details.  Daryl’s super cute Vintage Lacy Tree invitation design featured her beloved pup but in a subtle, stylish way.  Her palette of fresh kelly green, soft pink paisley and white definitely made the Momental Girls feel like spring had finally arrived!  And Melody’s innovative concept where the invitation and all information was designed into a small, paper conscious tri-fold wedding invitation.  Thanks Meldoy for the fantastic idea!

Another look at Anne’s stunning black, ivory and champagne palette we used for her custom wedding invitation design!
Curious to see how her designed evolved?

So what am I up to?

Loving this guestbook idea featured on The Bride’s Cafe and totally stealing the concept for our renewal in PA!

Packing for another trip to Utah to finalize plans for the Renewal in Zion.  Final tastings, flowers, finding an officiant and guitarist.  Phew!

Collecting my thoughts and staying inspired after Lara Casey’s Making Things Happen intensive in NYC last week.  How are you staying inspired?

A Peek into the Studio – Landscapes and roses.

This time of year at the studio is insane to say the least, the good type of insane that keeps you creative and full of ideas, though.  With many orders leaving the studio each day it is so difficult to choose our favorites but inevitably certain painting techniques or color palettes really draw us in!

We have been creating a new invitation  style at the studio lately lovingly titled the Painted Landscape.  Originally inspired by Tonya’s design, many brides have followed suit requesting lush watercolor illustrations to literally fill the invitation space, where wording become secondary.  The girls had a blast with Rebecca’s invites last week as they are especially fun to hand paint!

Mary Lou’s contrast painted invites and now day of accessories have inspired quite a few brides recently just as the Live Oak has become a favorite wedding invitation artwork choice especially for southern weddings!

So, what am I up to?

Heading off to Austin this week for a top secret project with Caroline from Paloma’s Nest and other friends.  If you would like to follow our adventures just search #Austinshoot on Twitter!

Reeling from a fabulous collaboration with Jen from Green Wedding Shoes and planning the behind the scenes post to post soon!

A Peek into the Studio – Blooms, Swirls and Vintage Lace

The studio is buzzing and we are working our tails off here!  Jess has been helping me lately with the rush of samples recently and we love her gorgeous landscapes and venue illustrations!  Early spring weddings are in full swing and bloom as you can see.  Emily’s  precious pink dogwoods with hand painted pink and pretty white dots are a studio favorite this week.  Mary Lou’s stationery collection has inspired countless brides lately and this reception celebration invitation takes the cake.  I love how the completely hand painted white roses just pop off the page!

Michele and Tom’s  chose a summery palette of green and pink with a dragonfly fluttering through the Vintage Lace pattern.  Amanda’s Versailles Swirls look sweet and sophisticated in their purple palette.

So what am I up to?

- Getting ready for the Eco Beautiful Launch Party next Tuesday where I finally get to meet Dana, The Broke Ass Bride!

- Just finishing up another  stationery collection for a photoshoot with Daniela of Bella Signature Design this weekend.  Our last project together made it on Style Me Pretty, did you see?

- Feeling completely blessed to be named one of the Top 100 Wedding Bloggers by Bride Tide.  Thank you, Thank you!

- Packing the painting supplies for a trip next Saturday to one of my favorite places on earth.  Oh yes, and while we are in Utah, we must make time for a bit of renewal planning.

Hand painted, handmade wedding invitations – Really?

After having one of the most amazing weeks of my life, I began reflecting more on 2009 this morning.  I have been surrounded by so many talented friends who have truly rallied around the work done here at the Momental Studio.  I’m a big dreamer and an even bigger doer but those I have met over the last year and their reactions to my work make the experience truly meaningful.

After sitting down to write an honest post last August about how my hand painted wedding invitations came to be I was floored by the response.  During the last 6 months I came to realize that artwork in any capacity, even adorning custom wedding invitations, can have a meaningful impact on people and facilitate connections otherwise impossible.

So thank you for joining me along the way and know that I look forward to many more adventures to come.

The original post that started it all…

Say the phrase hand-painted wedding invitation and most do a double take…then ask “for small orders right?” or inquire “well you reproduce each one on the computer?”. All of these are valid responses I admit as the thought of individually hand-painting hundreds of pieces is initially mind boggling. Let me be the first to tell you, it is mind boggling, requires tremendous patience and skill, but YES, here at Momental Designs we have been hand-painting each and every invitation since our beginnings in 2003.

I thought I would take a moment to further explain the painting process and give a peek into the world of Momental hand painted wedding invitations.

Shortly after my wedding in 2000, I began Momental, very humbly. I worked another full time job, where my lunch hours were spent crafting the perfect business name, reading business books and sketching invitation ideas. My goal was to offer artistic invitations, featuring my original artwork, but to take the concept one step further. While many invitation designers at the time offered original illustrations none were hand-painting, exclusively – so the Momental Invitation was born! I sat for hours perfecting simple little illustrations that could be repeated entirely by hand over hundreds of pieces. Several weeks ago I blogged about Kelley’s hydrangea invitations, where I shared a sample hydrangea from the very beginning. We still create invitations that are entirely hand-painted much like Carrianne’s, where over 30 strokes per invite were used!

Over time brides seemed to be requesting an increasing level of complexity in their artwork. I adored creating detailed watercolor illustrations but knew I simply could not re-create the complexity of the paintings across hundreds of items. After much research I found the perfect way to accurately reproduce the pieces onto each invitation.

Each Momental Invitation begins with my Original Watercolor artwork. After reproduction of the original hydrangea above, tiny hand-painted strokes of sheer shimmer are mindfully added on each invitation to capture the depth and complexity of the lush bloom.

The Momental Girls sit for hours adding the perfect touch to each stationery piece.

I also create simple black and white illustrations – more sketchy; pencil or pen on paper. After reproduction of my original Poppies above we added ivory hand-painted details to each.

The Vintage Stamped collection is perhaps our most loved. Vintage Tree, Lacy, Lotus, Posie and Petal artwork is entirely crafted by hand, where the signature pattern is pressed into paper and hand-painted details are layered throughout.

So there you have it – if you made it through my mega post – thanks for reading. My hope is that you will see beyond the photos, color and artwork and notice the passion that drives it all ; passion for the business as it has grown, passion for a team I am eternally grateful for and passion for creating invitations as fine art; mini-works that become more than paper and text, but capture a moment, tell a story with every little brushstroke detail.

A Peek into the Studio – A spring tree and decking the halls!

This week I thought I would feature this pretty invitation since all the Momental Girls are BIG fans.  Naturally we all have varying tastes and while each invitation we create is usually someone’s favorite, this little beauty had all our votes!  From the richly included paper to the embossed shimmer border and rhinestone/pearl embellishments, this set is alive with detail.    Take a look at the progression of Lindsay’s design to see how we arrived here!

So what am I up to?

Decking the halls…I mean studio.  Simple, affordable stockings were jazzed up by each Momental Girl in addition to some other thoughtful holiday trimming throughout the studio this week.

The hubby and my annual Holiday party is a week early this year and coming fast.  I picked up this and these for the DIY photobooth we are constructing (more on that later).

A little holiday shopping with Paloma’s nest yesterday.   Caroline extended her free shipping (on the Holiday 09 Collection) offer until Friday, hurry up and head over!

A Peek into the Studio – Peacocks, fortunetellers and a proposal in Italy

This time of year our projects are quite varied.  Many clients are sending save the dates for next year’s events while some are wrapping up unique day-of accessory designs for late fall and early winter weddings.  I chose a few of my favorites from the last 2 weeks to share with you!

From top left: Lauren’s custom illustration of the Luzerne County Courthouse graced with falling bejeweled snowflakes, Jenn’s citrus inspired palette wrapped in patterned stock and ribbon, Cara’s Storyline save the dates telling her Italian proposal story, Claire’s custom fortunetellers for reception table entertainment and finally Sarah’s watercolor peacock for her ceremony in India.

So what am I up to?

Just back from the Southern Weddings Magazine Launch Party at Bridal Bar Atlanta.  Thanks again to everyone for such a warm welcome and for the super cool dance party, Mammoth Men!

Read more about the Fortuneteller project over at The Broke Ass Bride and check there soon for my free fortuneteller template download!

Seriously loving this Engagement Shoot over at Green Wedding Shoes by the talented Sarah Yates!