I am so excited to show you the results of the collaboration between Sarah of Hip Ink’s studio and mine (see post on sketches awhile back here). We do create custom illustrations on request for specialty purposes outside the studio but this is the first one that is actually a wedding invitation, and it was so much fun to do!
(Image above: Originals wrapped in glassine ready to be shipped out to the client in Canada.) I love the romantic, wintry wedding setting in Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City. When Sarah and Lorrain first showed me pictures of the venue and time of year, I instantly fell in love with the idea and couldn’t resist visions of vintage watercolor illustrations of the 1800s with their cobbled town streets, horse and carriage, women in fur coats and men in top hats! I envisioned it as an evening scene blanketed in snowflakes with an almost ethereal feel from another time, the warm glow of light from indoors bathing the sidewalks sparkling with snow.
HIP INK has a modern, clean and delightfully fresh approach to invitations and stationery in a style that is very different from mine and I was really excited to see what Sarah’s approach was going to be in the final suite. It was worth the wait-I love the gorgeous letterpress and combination of fonts that she chose and the paper is simply beautiful, thick and luxurious! All in all, a really elegant, classic, timeless suite that her clients must have been thrilled with, great job Sarah!!
Here’s what Sarah has to say…
(Excerpted from her HIP INK blog post, photo captions are my own thoughts)
Lovely soft winter colors; Photos by Corina V. Photography
Danielle and Stephen’s Chateau Frontenac/Old Quebec winter-themed pocketfold invitation, featuring a mix of letterpress printing and beautiful hand-painted illustrations by Amy Tan of The TreeSpace Studio.
They were immediately drawn to our Paris invitation at a bridal show in January, and knew they wanted something with a similar feeling, that would incorporate two specific illustrations – one of the Fairmont Le Cheateau Frontenac (where Danielle and Stephen’s wedding was taking place) and one of a wintery streetscape of Old Quebec. They wanted something soft and romantic, with a pen and ink/watercolour feeling, and I knew exactly who to call – in fact, I remember blurting out in our first meeting, “I know the perfect illustrator!”.
The perfect illustrator was Amy Tan from The Treespace Studio - Amy is an invitation designer in her own right as well, creating some of the most personal and beautiful invitations out there, and I knew her amazing style was perfect for this project (and I was right!).
We had used letterpress to create Danielle and Stephen’s save-the-dates, and I thought it was the perfect mix of modern and old-world for the wedding invitation as well. But…I knew that letterpress was definitely not going to work for the illustration portion of the invite. So, just like peanut butter and jelly, we made two very different printing methods the best of friends – first we sent off the invites and inserts to be letterpress printed (on Crane Lettra cotton stock), and then once we had them in studio we reproduced Amy’s beautiful illustrations on our in-house photo printer (and I caught up on Pinterest while I hand fed each one!). And here is the result:
Sarah is so good at typeface selection! Her font combination is flawless and elegant.
The illustrations so beautifully captured the Chateau in winter, with a warm glow emanating from the windows and a snowy Old Quebec street scene, with the bride and groom making a special appearance.
Loving the letterpressed light grey....!
While the colour scheme was a very traditional silver, white and dark blue, we added in shades of lavender to both the illustrations and the belly band, as well as the warm yellow-orange that added warmth to the illustrations and overall piece. Read the rest of the post here on Sarah’s HIP INK blog!
Hello everyone, some big news today from our wedding invitation studio for those of you who just got engaged or are about to get engaged. (Congratulations for taking this big beautiful step!)
It’s been about a year since we launched our Storybooklets wedding invitations (click on diagram above on how to personalize it) and they have been hands down our MOST popular style of wedding invitations. (Take a look at some examples here and here in our previous posts and some past ones here at the Etsy shop) We have been so fortunate and grateful for all the beautiful weddings we have created Storybooklets for so far. However, there are some exciting events in the horizon and a little bit of a bittersweet announcement:
For almost a year, many brides and grooms were able to take advantage of having a custom-illustrated wedding invitation suite printed on gorgeous artisanal papers for a low low price per piece.
However from Feb 2012 onwards, our Storybooklet prices are going up. Do not despair, this is in conjunction with the upcoming launch of our new Ready-to-Order Wedding Collection, all hand-painted with customizable hand-lettering, to be available for purchase at our new online shop (coming up soon as well!), so there will be more options in prices and offerings and something for everyone! (very excited about this launch so stay tuned…)
Also, we are revamping the storybooklets a little so that they are bigger and printed on the same beautiful washi paper but thicker, and with an option for whimsical dip-pen-and-ink hand-lettering so you get more for the price! You can still have them on thinner papers but they will be by special request only.
So from now till end of January, if you’ve always been interested in the Storybooklets, or know of someone who might be, NOW is the time to get booked in and lock in the old rate before the prices go up! Get it HERE at the still-old prices for not too much longer.
What if upon the launch you think, ” Hey I would like to change from the Storybooklet style to one of the cool new styles above?” but you’ve already booked a storybooklet with us? No worries, we’ll just adjust the price for you, as long as your design process hasn’t started.
A little introduction for those who are not familiar with the Storybooklet (from our Etsy Store):
Choose this if you love storybooks, booklets and folded items! Inspired by vintage travel brochures, children’s storybooks and quirky art books, this unique invitation is designed specially to feature the new chapters in your life together. Personalize it so it looks like no one else’s!
Perfect for:
♥Unique wedding stories
♥Quirky wedding couples
♥Unconventional wedding themes
♥Book lovers of all kinds!
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The invitation in this picture is a SAMPLE ONLY you may purchase it for a closer look, but yours will be in your own color scheme, with objects and backdrop of your choice!
Features:
♥Your very own whimsical custom-illustrated wedding artwork and directional map as in sample.
♥Personalized text and font in color scheme of choice
♥Archival-printed with pigment inks on gorgeous Japanese washi paper made from plant fibers
♥Approximately 4.5″ x 6.25” with a total of four accordion foldout pages.
♥Each invitation includes an A6-sized premium European-style envelope made from thick handmade plant-fiber paper
♥Optional upgrade of wood-handle custom calligraphy return address rubber stamp $55 includes stamping (separate listing)
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Package includes:
• 1 conceptual sketch of main illustration idea
• 1 digital proof for layout and text
• 1 scanned final proof emailed
• 1 free round of revision each for digital and final proof stages
Get your own storybooklet now, a few days left at the old prices!
Happy 2012 everyone! We are back in full swing and our first painting of the year is from our ‘dream BIG’ series featuring the lucky Water Dragon which promises a prosperous year to come. The lunar New Year falls on January 23rd this year and lasts for 15 days. The painting is available as greeting cards and fine art prints at our Etsy store, check it out!
The Chinese zodiac has 12 signs, a creature for each year, resetting itself every 12 years. In addition to the creature of the year, each creature is also of an element, and this year’s Dragon is the Water Dragon, occuring only once every 60 years! Dragons are special within the zodiac because of the 12 creatures, it is the only one of mythical origin.
Here is an interesting excerpt written on the Water Dragon year. Believer or not, who can resist its promise of luck and good fortune?
Unlike the wicked, fire-breathing dragons of Western mythology, China’s celestial dragon symbolizes potent and benevolent power. Dragons are ancient, majestic, wise, and intelligent, and Dragon years are considered particularly auspicious for new businesses, marriage and children. Dragon years also tend to boost individual fortunes and the world economy.
The Year of the Water Dragon (1992, 1952 and 2012) is noted for its calm, visionary intelligence, and balance of right brain creativity with left brain logic.
Like all Dragons, the Water Dragon is an innovative, fearless leader. But the Water Dragon is also far more sensitive to others’ needs, and is more likely to be progressive and diplomatic, as well as socially and environmentally conscious. Because Water bestows a more peaceful disposition, this Dragon will act wisely and intelligently, and unlike his fellow Dragons, is willing to set aside his ego for the good of all.
This Dragon is a successful negotiator, and while he is adept at marketing, he also knows how to apply force skillfully when necessary. On the down side, the Water Dragon sometimes forgets to build a solid foundation for his grand plans, and he can hold on too long to pet ideas and projects, and thus create a famous Dragon-sized disaster.
If you subscribe to the dawn-of-a-new-era theory of 2012, then it’s easy to see how the influence of the Water Dragon will increase the likelihood of success for progressive movements gaining momentum all across the globe. Energy conservation and green energy-producing technologies, curtailing Global Warming, challenges to multinational corporations, attention to world hunger and the renewed health of the oceans and sea creatures will all likely fare well.
But of all the Dragon years, the 2012 Water Dragon is most likely to bestow the Chinese Five Blessings of harmony, virtue, riches, fulfillment and longevity, adding even more weight to the growing belief that 2012 will be about breakthroughs, not disasters.
