Brides-to-Be Show

It's official - Invites by Andrea will be represented at the biggest Michigan Brides-to-Be show this winter at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn, MI! The show will be Saturday and Sunday, January 7 - 8, 2012, from 12 noon - 5 pm both days. Tickets are $7 in advance or $8 at the door. There will be hundreds of booths and hundreds of prizes brides have a chance to win. I'll be giving away discounted wedding stationery, and giving exclusive discounts to every bride who signs up at my table to receive emails from Invites by Andrea. I went to the very same show when I was engaged and starting to plan my wedding, and it was a lot of fun. I'm excited to see it from the other perspective - the perspective of a vendor!

I have a lot to do to prepare for the show, so I'll be very busy in the next few months designing more samples and getting brochures printed for the event. You can also expect a redesign of the samples section of my website in the next few months as I prepare new designs for the show, so even if you can't make it out to the show, make sure you check out my updated website by the end of 2011. :)

Shameless plug time: Don't know about Invites by Andrea? I create custom invitations and other stationery for any event, including weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, birthdays, showers, theme parties, office events, holiday parties and more! Check out my website or email me at andrea@invitesbyandrea.com for more information!

Talis Bat Mitzvah Stationery Set - Cont.

My client recently added a second order to the talis bat mitzvah invitations I designed for her back in June. In a matter of hours, I quickly designed, printed, and assembled the escort cards and table markers for the dinner after her bat mitzvah ceremony.

Materials used:
- Card stock paper
- Printer and ink
- Aluminum ruler with safety lip
- Exacto knife
- Cutting mat
- Photo corners

Cutting out the escort cards

I used a template to make sure I placed the photo corners in the same spot on every escort card

When the escort cards were completed, it was easy to switch the table designation in and out to accommodate for last minute seat arrangement changes. Below are shots of the final escort cards and table markers.

Completed escort card (back, with photo corners)

Completed escort card (front)

Stacks of finished escort cards and table markers

Finished table markers

What's the difference between an "escort card", a "table marker", and a "place marker/place card"? Maybe other people define them different ways, but this is how I think of them: an escort card is the card that tells you which table to go sit at - if it tells you a specific seat to sit at, or if it is placed at your place setting to tell you which seat at the table to sit at, then it's a place card. A table marker is the sign on the table that says "Table 1" (or whatever) to inform you which table you're looking at and whether it matches the table indicated on your escort card. For this event, I created escort cards and table markers - you usually won't have escort cards and place cards, but just one or the other.

Shameless plug time: Love my table markers and escort cards? Need invitations and stationery? Have an event coming up? Visit my website at InvitesbyAndrea.com or email me at andrea@invitesbyandrea.com for more information! I do weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, birthdays, anniversary parties, holidays - anything you might need custom stationery for!

Greeting Cards

Another project I worked on recently was designing greeting cards.

I'll admit it - I took some of the wording for these from cards I saw in Hallmark, but the designs are all mine! I designed and printed these greeting cards for a client who was looking for a year's supply of birthday cards, anniversary cards and Hanukkah cards to send out to her family members. It sure beats thirty separate trips to the store to purchase them!

The card designs were created for a variety of people - sons, grandsons, daughters, granddaughters, etc. - of all different ages. I made three Hanukkah designs (a menorah design, and two star of David designs), four birthday designs (a design for a woman, a man, a girl, and a boy), and two different anniversary designs - a bouquet of flowers, and a glass of wine. Within each design, I printed several out in different colors, with different text depending on who the card was intended for. It was a lot of work, but the end results were amazing!

Talis Bat Mitzvah Stationery Set

I recently designed and printed a set of Bat Mitzvah stationery. My client was embroidering her own prayer shawl (talis) for the ceremony and wanted this to be a large part of the design of the stationery. The colors used reflect the colors she is using to create her actual talis.

To achieve the hatching/cross-hatching look, I spent hours making each line of the drawing using Illustrator's pen tool. I love the finished product - the "drawing" turned out great!

Shameless plug time: Love my invitations and stationery? Have an event coming up that you need stationery for? Visit my website at InvitesbyAndrea.com or email me at andrea@invitesbyandrea.com for more information!