Navy and Yellow Nautical Baby Shower

Yellow and Navy Nautical Baby Shower Invite, $12 for template

So much has happened since my last few posts! I'll definitely make some updates over the next few weeks, but thought I'd start here. In September, I put together a baby shower for one of my best friends expecting a baby boy. I worked with her mother and one of her friends, and I had a blast int he process!

One of the only themes I had to work with was "baby-preppy" when trying to figure out the decor. Once we secured a Yacht Club for the shower location (both the mommy-to-be and my families have memberships there) I figured you don't get more preppy than nautical - and for a baby boy, let's get away from the powder blue and make the theme "preppy" with navy blue and yellow.

Handmade Baby Boy Shower Banner - Navy, Yellow, and White

The Banner

A lot of this shower involved me just making / designing things because I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. The first of which was the banner saying, "Welcome baby Carter!" I bought cardstock in alternating yellow and navy patterns, cut into triangle pendants, and printed out the letters on Avery Circle Label templates to stick on. All of them were glued on a satin white ribbon and strung up right when you walked in - and it looked awesome! (I looked pretty hilarious on the floor of my apartment putting these together ;)

Navy Blue and Yellow Diaper Cake

The Diaper Cake

These are actually easier than I thought to make. I bought a cake platter for a base (TJ Maxx had a really cute white one with Gold ribbon accent) then a container of baby powder for the center. I also got rubber bands - both small and x-large - to roll up the diapers, and a preppy navy blue ribbon to wrap around the cake (I was going to hang toys off of it and shit, but the thing would have looked tacky. We were going for a more chic-awesomeness, here :) and some yellow flowers for accents - both from Michael's. 

I used Newborn size diapers, rolled each of them with a small rubber band. Then you layer them in a circle around the baby powder, and secured all of them with the large rubber band (it's helpful if you have another person to help you out - they can hold the diapers in place when you put the band on them). I did a few "layers" around, and built the cake up from there. Then I put the ribbon over the bands, added a few yellow flowers for pop, and topped it off with a little teddy bear. It was adorable :)

The Diaper Station

These were just funny, and I found the idea admittedly on Pinterest. It was basically another excuse to load up my friend with as many diapers as possible, because I know they are definitely something you blow through!

This was also super easy to put together. Found a cute basket - TJ Maxx again - and loaded it up with diapers - think I used size 2 because the Newborn sizes are really tiny to write on.

Late Night Diaper Station: Basket, Instructions, Diapers & Sharpies!

Some late-night diaper ideas :)

The Favors

The favors I made matched the invitation - also something I designed after the scouring the internet and coming up with nothing that worked for me. I designed these cute "Ready to Pop!" baby shower favor tags that I cut up, hole-punched, and tied with navy ribbon to bags of caramel popcorn. It was completely adorable and easy to do!

Ready to Pop baby shower template, $8

"Ready to Pop!" Nautical Baby Favors

The shower was a blast, and I loved putting it together! I decided to make some of the things I've designed available for download at my Etsy shop, in the event you are also in need for something fabulous. All of the files are customizable - I've done a few different variations, both in color and text. Shoot me a convo if you're interested or if you have any questions!

An Elegant Charcoal Grey and White Wedding: Wedding Calligraphy

Calligraphy for Wedding Invitation Envelopes, $4.50 for set pictured

I love it when my brides follow up with images of their wedding!! Pictured below is some custom calligraphy work I did for a May 2013 wedding. The bride's colors were a beautiful elegant charcoal grey and white: I custom-mixed the grey color to match her invitations for both her outer envelope addressing and response envelope address for her invites.

Arrange your escort cards around a striking floral arrangement

Then a few months later, I did her place cards for her wedding - and these were so fun! I LOVE the way white ink looks on any dark cardstock or envelope - it has such a dramatic, striking look. The cards were on the larger side, so I was able to do very large letters for the flourished names.

Calligraphy for Wedding Escort Cards, $1.50 each

Calligraphy for escort cards, $1.50 each

 If you are looking for a calligrapher to help out with your wedding - for invitations, escort cards, or both - shoot me an email on how we can get started!

Wedding Ceremony Calligraphy: Certificate of Marriage

Custom Wedding Ceremony Calligraphy Document

 In the throes of wedding calligraphy season, I took a chance on a custom project and am SO glad that I did! A couple approached me in July of this year to commission a custom Commitment to Marriage document in calligraphy. There were a few elements that they were looking for in their document, and I've included a few images of the finished product: (Visit the Ash Tree Calligraphy Facebook Page to see more images!)

1) Lines for Guests' Signatures. The purpose of the wedding document was not only to write down vows that the couple promised each other, but for guests to participate in the ceremony by signing as witnesses and promising to support the couple in their marriage.

For this couple, it required about 117 lines - one for each guest. Though they initially wanted 3 columns of lines, we were actually able to fit the right amount of space with exactly 4 columns instead.

2) Color Palette. After consulting with the groom, we discussed that brown ink with tones of green would best match their wedding colors - and I recommended using a light cream color paper, as the colors would look best.

I was able to incorporate all of these colors in different areas of the wedding document  - including "illuminating" the first letter of a few lines with the green accent over the brown.

3) Illustrations. After a previous illustration of the California coastline I did last season for a destination save-the-date, this was another request to place a design element in addition to calligraphy on the document - and as an artist, I'm always up for that challenge!

Involve guests in your ceremony with their signatures!

We looked at three stock images of trees that the couple liked, and I used those as inspiration to create my own - tying in all of the document colors of brown and shades of green. The tree was meant to be a simple accent, while also representing the strength and sturdiness of their marriage. They opted for two identical, mirrored trees on each side of the top of their document.

There was also a slight flourish to graphically separate the signatures of the couple to the promises of the guests - I used the darker green tone to tie into the document and added leaf elements.

4) Size. Lastly, this document was also the largest I've created to-date! The final finished project was about 15" x 22" in size - I provided the paper to make sure it was archival and could withstand the test of time. I also recommended that once it is framed and matted, placing documents such as this in areas of little natural sunlight to decrease the chances of fading.

Looking for your own custom calligraphy project? Shoot me an email about what's on your mind for design, and let's get to work!