Black & Fuchsia Bridesmaid Cards

Ahhhh, wedding season! I love weddings and all of the details that go into them. So I was super excited when someone came across my blog and asked me to make her some bridesmaid cards…a way for her to ask her friends to be in the wedding.

Establishing a wedding party is one of the first big steps in the planning process so I wanted to give this bride-to-be something that was unique and personal. Her colors were fuchsia and black and she was considering using orchids in her wedding. So I came up with this card: The design is a standard A2 size but it’s a pocket instead of a folded card so I was able to slip in a printed note, personalized for each attendant. The card reads "On my wedding day, I will need you more than ever. Please be my Maid of Honor now.... and my friend forever.

Fuchsia is so striking against jet black but it’s really the silk orchid that gives this bridesmaid card its distinctive style. Such a lovely way to ask someone to be a part of your special day, don’t you think?

Black and Fuchsia Wedding Invitations

I was excited to be able to offer this particular bride-to-be some very budget friendly invitations. Initially, she had picked out some basic white invitations because they were some of the least expensive ones she could find. I firmly believe that an invitation sets the tone for your event, giving your guests an idea of what to expect. Plain white is not what these guests can expect at this wedding. I set out to not only save her money but get more color for her buck.


I created a simple flat card for the invitation then included a reception and response card that were banded together with coordinating pattern paper. The reception card gave logistic information and details about hotel rooms for the evening. The response cards contain the RSVP information on one side and mailing address on the reverse, allowing them to be stamped (at a lesser postage rate) and dropped in the mail without an envelope. By eliminating the traditional inner envelope and opting to use a postcard for the RSVP, the bride was able to save quite a bit of money on this set. For 200 invitations, they were less than $1 for each set!

Fuchisa and Black Bridal Shower Invitations

I've just completed an order of bridal shower invitations. The only requests were to use black and fuchsia, the bride's wedding colors, and this little bride's dress cut-out. So I came up with a simple, double sided, flat front card.

I started by adding some black and white pattern paper to the front of the black card base. Next, was a black matted layer of fuchsia (technically raspberry) that held the dress cut out. I decided to leave the squiggles in tact with the dress, otherwise, it looked like the dress had been chewed by moths! I tied a coordinating ribbon around the waist of the dress and adhered a small pearl in the center. The edges of the dress are also slightly inked with a wheat chalk ink for added dimension but its darn near impossible to see in the photos.Below the dress I added a second matted layer of fuchsia to anchor the words "It started with a kiss and now it's come to this!" The flip side of the card carries all of the details for the shower, matted of course, by a layer of fuchsia.

What I especially like is the addition of the little flourish (DB Dainty Swirls), used here to separate the event's details from the registry information. It coordinated so well with the pattern paper!

With bright fuchsia envelopes, these trendy bridal shower invitations are sure to arrive in style!

Isabella's Frames

You may recall from a year ago when I had a crazy order of 15 custom frames. A new member was added to my friend's family so more frames were needed. This time, only four, which was less stressful! As with her birth announcements and baptism invitations, the frames carried out the black and pink theme.

The first small frame has a shabby, pink striped background with the child's name spelled out in black rhinestones. The look is tied together with a black silk ribbon and rhinestone button. The second small frame is covered with Anna Griffin patterned paper in soft pink and ivory. Again, a black silk ribbon ties it together with an ivory flower and black rhinestone button as the focal point. Her name was added beneath a name plate in the same font used for the announcements and invitations.

I made a large frame identical to the small one, changing only the ribbon and button to balance out the size difference.

I decided to go all black with the second large frame. With a black on black felt damask background and diamond accents, this frame hints at a diva in training!

These were a lot of fun to make and allowed me to brush up on my framing skills a bit. I have a few other ideas rolling around in my head that I cant wait to try out. Hopefully I'll have time while I'm still on vacation for the holidays.

Shabby French Frame ~ Black & Cream

Only a couple more French inspired projects and I promise I'll move on to something else. Maybe. We'll see. Tonight I whipped up a French inspired frame using the leftover paper from the French scrolls I showed you yesterday along with black and cream diamond patterned paper. If the frame looks familiar, its because I incorporated the same layout as I used on this frame.I love the subtlety of how the black, cream, and browns all blend together.Thanks for stopping by, I hope to have more for you to see very soon!

Baby Announcements

They're done! The 100 baby announcements are finally done. Boy was this a doozie of a project. They look simple enough, and I thought they would be, but my inexperience made them a little more difficult than they had to be. I have a tendency to come up with a really cool idea, then realize midway through that maybe it wasnt the most doable idea. These announcements are case in point.

Coming up with the paper and color scheme wasnt too difficult, it was based on the baby's room decor and the mother's personal style. She has a black chandelier in the baby's room and I used that as part of my inspiration. Wouldnt it be cool, I thought, to use a black chandelier piece on each announcement?! Oh yeah, way too cool! See reference above about doability of an idea... Yeah, those little black chandelier pieces...impossible to find. Zero craft stores in the area had them. I Googled, and Googled, to no avail. I hit up my bead experts and still came up empty handed. So then I went to "the city", an hour away, and they didnt have them either. I finally settled on a little teeny tiny black charm I found in the jewelry section of Michaels. But how disappointing, its so little. Okay, I can make this work, I thought. So I added a small matching bead on each side of the charm. Okay, this will work. Again, see reference above regarding doability of idea. My initial thought was to place the chandelier piece on a jump ring and thread it through the ribbon. Ive done that tons of times and know that it is doable. These teeny tiny charms and beads...not so much. Hmmm, jump ring is too thick for the charms. As if searching for these silly things wasnt bad enough, now I had to find a way to get them on the announcement. I'll save you from the boredom of too many details, and believe me, there are lots of them, but I (I meaning my mom!) finally had to settle on threading microscopic wire through the beads. Hmph, simple enough...until you have to do 100 of them.

And I couldnt resist taking a picture of my number one fan...she was definitely thrilled with the box, not so much on what I was working on. But none the less, her support is much appreciated. ;)

So without further ado, I bring to you,

"the announcements"...ta-dah!!