I love decorative brads. There are so many awesome ones to choose from. They have pretty much any color available, from metallic to pastel to bold and bright. There are sparkly ones, fabric ones, and brads that have their own patterns on them already. They even have themed brads that are in the shape of your favorite foods or animals. The brads in these examples are pretty plain - small round brads in various colors - but they look more personalized and unique because they're incorporated into the patterns I designed.
The best part? You don't have to measure with your ruler each individual invitation and mark where the brads should go to ensure that they'll all end up in the same place, because you can use the pattern as a guide for where to place your brads! Any pattern that has small circles, interesting intersections of lines, a touch of white space, or an obvious origin point for radial or linear symmetry is a great option for this, since any of those features make for a great place to insert a brad.
In the example below, a vaguely floral pattern provides the perfect opportunity for a brad in the center of the first flower on right. Guess where the brad is on the other side of the invitation? Bingo. The center of the first flower on the left. So easy!
This pattern is obviously symmetrical, with a vertical line axis. So where to put the brads? Equally spaced on that line of symmetry, of course, right in the center of where two units of the pattern come together and touch. Though I created the pattern first and added the brads later, it looks like I planned it all along!
To dress up stationery even more, you can also add ribbon on top of the pattern. Since this ribbon is half sheer, it's still easy to see the pattern well enough underneath to use the pattern as a guide for where to insert the brads, plus since the pattern, ribbon, and brads are all almost the same color, they work really well as a cohesive group.
In the example below, each item's brads were placed on a different spot of the pattern, based on the size and design of the item. The brads on the reply card are inserted further to the left so that the guests have enough room to write their name and reply when they lift up the peach-colored vellum paper overlay.
My absolute favorite way to incorporate brads into a pattern is at the center of a flower-like intersection, where several lines or ovals come together, just like these final two examples.
The final part of this extensive seven-part blog post will be tomorrow, so don't forget to check back! :)
-
Shameless plug time: Love my patterns? Love these designs? I incorporate them into a lot of the artwork I create, from stationery for Invites by Andrea to the watercolors I paint. Check out Invites by Andrea's website to see examples of these patterns or download a catalogue pdf (coming soon!). Or drop me a line at andrea@invitesbyandrea.com to let me know what you think!
The best part? You don't have to measure with your ruler each individual invitation and mark where the brads should go to ensure that they'll all end up in the same place, because you can use the pattern as a guide for where to place your brads! Any pattern that has small circles, interesting intersections of lines, a touch of white space, or an obvious origin point for radial or linear symmetry is a great option for this, since any of those features make for a great place to insert a brad.
In the example below, a vaguely floral pattern provides the perfect opportunity for a brad in the center of the first flower on right. Guess where the brad is on the other side of the invitation? Bingo. The center of the first flower on the left. So easy!
This pattern is obviously symmetrical, with a vertical line axis. So where to put the brads? Equally spaced on that line of symmetry, of course, right in the center of where two units of the pattern come together and touch. Though I created the pattern first and added the brads later, it looks like I planned it all along!
To dress up stationery even more, you can also add ribbon on top of the pattern. Since this ribbon is half sheer, it's still easy to see the pattern well enough underneath to use the pattern as a guide for where to insert the brads, plus since the pattern, ribbon, and brads are all almost the same color, they work really well as a cohesive group.
In the example below, each item's brads were placed on a different spot of the pattern, based on the size and design of the item. The brads on the reply card are inserted further to the left so that the guests have enough room to write their name and reply when they lift up the peach-colored vellum paper overlay.
My absolute favorite way to incorporate brads into a pattern is at the center of a flower-like intersection, where several lines or ovals come together, just like these final two examples.
The final part of this extensive seven-part blog post will be tomorrow, so don't forget to check back! :)
-
Shameless plug time: Love my patterns? Love these designs? I incorporate them into a lot of the artwork I create, from stationery for Invites by Andrea to the watercolors I paint. Check out Invites by Andrea's website to see examples of these patterns or download a catalogue pdf (coming soon!). Or drop me a line at andrea@invitesbyandrea.com to let me know what you think!
No comments:
Post a Comment