...Turquoise Invitations...

Turquoise has always been one of my favorite colors. Loving this little Etsy shop that I found offering this invitation drenched in turquoise! Perfect for an upcoming fall wedding if paired with that kraft envelope.

Image from Julia’s Poppies Etsy shop. Listing can be found here.
The invitation suite below has just a smidge of turquoise but incorporates a paisley pattern as well as complementary colors of gray and mango. Couldn't get much better.

Image from Julia’s Poppies Etsy shop. Listing can be found here.
As seen on Ruffled Blog

...Calligraphy in Mocha Ink on White Envelopes...

There are a lot of brides within the last month or so that have contacted me asking if I have time to squeeze their order in since they were supposed to send out their invitations out last week. It always brings a smile to my face because I remember, when I was planning our wedding, how fast all of those "wedding deadlines" crept up & before I knew it I was walking down the aisle! I always try to accommodate last minute requests & get them out the door quickly. I'm blaming that as the reason why I only took a picture of one envelope for this order!

Don't forget that you should send out your invitations about two months before your wedding. If using a calligrapher, plan on providing your envelopes to them at least two weeks ahead of when you will send out your invites. Happy planning!

...White Ink and Plum Envelopes...

I love a good plum invitation envelope! Which, if you couldn't tell from the poor iphone quality picture, is what these were. A plum envelope always looks fantastic with a white, gold or silver ink and these were no exception {white ink, pretty adorable font}.

Things have really gotten busy here at Penned & Pretty in the last month {especially with opening up my etsy shop!}but I am determined to start taking more/better pictures of the orders that I complete and get them up on the blog! Hold me to it!

...So Cal Smitten & Natural Beauty Invitations...

I haven't written a feature on an invitation suite that I love in quite a while. I saw these invitations by yours is the earth over on green wedding shoes the other day and they are certainly worthy of sharing with you.

 If you love succulents, plants or are getting married in the southwest these invitations should be right up your alley! Aren't they adorable? There's a lot more where that came from in this write up from green wedding shoes and of course at the yours is the earth website.

...Plum Calligraphy on Post Card Save the Dates...

Bride-to-be Kim asked me a few months ago to address, in calligraphy, her post card save the dates for her before she sent them out to friends and family. The main color that she will be incorporating into the wedding is plum so, naturally, we went with a plum ink.

I loved their save the dates & the wording they used:  "We knew it was perfect, we knew it was fate, please make sure you save the date!" Too cute! Just completed the calligraphy on their wedding invitation envelopes not too long ago & that post will be coming soon!

...Cream Envelopes w/ a Navy Liner & Navy Ink Calligraphy...

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a fan of navy. So, when a bride recently e-mailed me to ask if I would address her cream envelopes with navy ink I immediately replied "yes!!" and ran to the store to restock my navy ink supply. Here are just a few samples from this order (font shown is Pretty Perfect):

 I firmly believe that there should always be plenty of room at the top of the envelope for the stamp to have its place & shine in the top right corner.

I had to get a photo of the back of these envelopes because they are divine. I love the gold cluster of dots and, if you could just feel it for yourself, the gold letterpress return address is to die for. Take my word on it!

If any of you love navy as much as I do and want it to be the ink color gracing the front of your invitation envelopes...you know where to find me!

...Escort Cards in Small Navy Envelopes with White Calligraphy...

These are not the best pictures (oh iphone!) but I wanted to share this with you. As I mentioned in my  last post  , I was working with Liz of all you need is paper, for a really fun pocketfold/envelope order. The wedding is fast approaching and Liz had a great idea for the escort cards. She had me write out the guest's names on these navy envelopes which will be later filled with a printed card escorting the guests to their assigned tables at the reception. 

I am loving the slight deviation from the typical escort card and also loving the navy & white combo (which is best represented in the first picture!) Thanks again, Liz for letting me assist you with these paper goods!

...Navy Pocketfold Inner Envelopes with White Pretty Adorable Calligraphy...

Wedding season is certainly here! My office assistant and I have been spending time in my office completing lots of orders for brides-to-be that are getting married in the spring/early summer! While I have attempted to do a better job at remembering to photograph all of the orders I complete before I send them out, in order to share them here, sometimes that falls by the wayside! I did manage to snap a picture, with my iphone, of these navy pocketfolds that went out earlier this week!

The bride, working with Liz of all you need is paper, is using these pocketfolds as inner envelopes. The side shown above will face the guests when they open the outer envelope. I addressed the first names of the guests with a white ink, which really pops on the navy. The other side of the pocketfold will be sealed with the couple's wedding monogram and then open to reveal the invitation suite. I have a feeling it will turn out beautifully! 

...Kraft Envelopes with Calligraphy...

Last fall I completed a calligraphy order for a client that was sending out her wedding invitations in kraft envelopes. I have always been a fan of these envelopes & actually sent our holiday cards out in similar envelopes! The bride-to-be requested me to use black ink on the envelopes which always makes for such a clean and polished look.

For the first time in Penned & Pretty history I literally had a client that could not decide on what calligraphy "font" she wanted me to use on the envelopes. Her groom liked the "Pretty Perfect" while she favored the "Pretty Adorable" font. So, I addressed the envelopes to the groom's side of the guest list in Pretty Perfect & the envelopes for the bride's family & friends were addressed using the Pretty Adorable font! I aim to please here at Penned & Pretty!

My calendar is starting to fill up for the 2012 wedding season so e-mail me today to reserve your spot on my calendar for completion!

...Around the Calligraphy Office...

I don't blog too much here about my personal life, but I just couldn't resist this one time. Back in July my husband and I {somewhat impulsively} got a puppy! He was a handful from day one, although we wouldn't have it any other way. We named him Sampson and he is a Goldendoodle. In August I woke my husband up at the crack of dawn and had Nicole Green take a few updated family photos of us. You can see them here!

Since then he has grown. And i mean grown. We often refer to him as a polar bear or a horse. He certainly doesn't look like a puppy! So, today I thought I would share a picture of my office assistant {in my office}. He's the one keeping my feet warm while I add the calligraphy on to all of those envelopes!

If I receive enough requests I suppose you could twist my arm to blog about him again from time to time!

...Modern Calligraphy...

Here are a few pictures from a calligraphy order that I completed this past summer. I often mention how fun it is to address an envelope that isn't white, but there is no denying that black ink on a white envelope just plain classy.

This is my Pretty Perfect font {with just a dash of Pretty Whimsy thrown in} which never fails to disappoint.

...Calligraphy on Blue Outer Envelopes & Stunning Lace-Like Inner Envelopes...

This summer I was contacted by Christina Tumbleson, an Event Planner to address literally hundreds of lace-like inner envelopes, blue outer envelopes & blue RSVP envelopes for an upcoming wedding. The invitations themselves were designed by Kristen of Five Dot Design. The final result {excluding the RSVP envelope} is below. I really loved the idea Kristen had in folding a lace-like square into the inner envelope. I had never seen such a thing! The lace & tweed strips wrapped around the invitation itself completed the invitation suite.

Imagine my surprise, a few months later, while reading the blogs of one of my favorite Indianapolis based photographers, megan w photography, I stumbled upon pictures of their wedding! These were too sweet not to share! See the full blog post here!

P.S. Christina just told me that the invitation will be featured in the upcoming winter issue of Kentucky Bride Magazine!

Invitation photo by JMM Photography. Invitations by Kristen of Five Dot Design.
Wedding day photos courtesy of megan w photography

...Happy New Year...

Hi friends! I am quite late in posting this, but I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year! Things have been a little quite around here at Penned & Pretty, as it traditionally is from November - February. However, that will all change soon as all of the Spring brides will be looking to send out their invitations!
That being said, I hope to get around to posting some of the work I completed last fall so that there are some more current posts on this little blog!

More to come!

picture by 32 flavors via my revelment