DIY Watercolor Birth Announcements

Usually, all the birth announcements that I do involve photos, so it was a nice surprise to have this project come my way. Taylor ordered my letterpress moving announcements as birth announcements, which was a fun idea on it's own, but then planned to have her daughter do a little watercolor art before mailing them to friends and family.

I loved this idea so much that I thought it would be fun to share a few ways you could personalize your own announcements or stationery with watercolor. I bet Maple's big sis did a better job, but it was my first time painting with watercolors, so I just played around with light pinks and peaches and this is what I ended up with!

We all know that I am a sucker for stripes… Big ones...

and small ones...

Ombre dipped.

or you could play with shapes...

Or just make a beautiful mess...

You can't really mess them up - my scrap paper was even pretty - and it's fun to have add a personal touch and make the truly one-of-a-kind!

Featured: Penelope's Letterpress Birth Announcements on OSBP

These announcements are especially close to my heart because this is my newest niece, Penelope. She is the cutest, sweetest little baby girl and I loved getting to design her birth announcements. I am so excited to share, now that they were featured on Oh So Beautiful Paper today!

Carley generally let's me do whatever I want, but I did know that she loves the clean look of letterpress, so that's what we went with. She opted out of traditional pink for the nursery and incorporated yellow, red and blue instead,  so I decided to go with red for the announcement, with kraft envelopes.

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have caught my little color debate on the day that these were printed. I was going back and forth on the colors, and wanted to experiment with them and so my printer and I tried both color ways. I ultimately couldn't chose a favorite and printed half and half. Indecision isn't always a bad thing :)

I love coordinating down to the stamp, so I ordered these new bird stamps and closed each one with tiny heart stickers from Thatch and Thistle.

I also designed some matching stationery with the floral pattern printed on the reverse side. Every girl needs her own stationery!

Baby Photography: Photography by Brea

Real Wedding: Jessica and Ben's Chicago Wedding

Jessica and Ben's wedding was featured on Elizabeth Ann Designs last week and their day was truly classic and elegant.  They were married at the Saint James Chapel, with the reception at the Drake Hotel in Chicago.

Their invitations made a little bit of a peek, but they were really classic in black and gold foil with gold foil deco liners with this gorgeous paper.

I love all the gold accents, but my favorite detail was their cake. Gorgeous!

Congrats to Jessica and Ben!

Photography – Emilia Jane Photography | Ceremony Venue – St. James Chapel | Reception Venue – The Drake Hotel | Floral – Anthony Gowder | Wedding Planning – Stephanie Cook | Stationery – Lauren Chism | Bakery –Amy Beck Cake Design | Band – Maggie Speaks | Transportation – Second City Trolley | Hair Stylist – Becca from the Women’s Athletic Club | Makeup Artist – William Martinez | Bridesmaids dresses – Modcloth | Gown –Lazaro from Wedding Belles | Jewelry – The Left Bank | Bride’s Shoes – BHLDN | Suit – Ralph Lauren Black Label

Featured: Arcade Children's Birthday Invitations

It took me a while to photograph these invitations, but I finally did and they were featured on Oh So Beautiful Paper last week!

My husband's cousin, Courtney, asked me to design an arcade themed birthday invitations for her son, Reid, earlier this year. Inspired by Pacman and her clever wording, I created these invitations that I think was a good balance for the kids and the adults.

In other news, Reid is adorable!

Featured: Kentucky Derby Party Invitations on Oh So Beautiful Paper

My hubby and I hosted a Derby Day party in May and the invitations were featured on Oh So Beautiful Paper!

We had a small get together last year, so we decided to go all-out this year and are certainly going to try to make it an annual thing. We had such a fun time betting on the races and a few lucky guests went home with some winnings!