Color of the Week - Champagne

This week's color is Champagne - a neutral that complements almost any color!

Champagne works with almost anything, from pastels to darker shades, and from highly saturated hues to fellow neutrals!

Fun facts about Champagne:

1. The first recorded use of the word champagne as a color term in English was in 1915; it was named for the sparkling wine produced from grapes grown in the Champagne region of France.

2. This color is often used to describe gemstones or paint finishes (such as in marketing automobiles) in order to imply that one is purchasing a luxury product.

3. Horses may inherit a "champagne gene" from either or both parents; this simple dominant allele creates rare horse coat colors, hazel eyes, and pinkish, freckled skin. In champagne colored horses, any hairs that would have been red are gold, and any hairs that would have been black are chocolate brown.



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Shameless Plug Time: Love this color? Looking for custom stationery made to match this color (or whatever other color combinations you're using for your event)? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf, or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.

Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Florentine Brown"

I love the color of this metallic copper. Coupled with a rich chocolate brown, the light-reflecting copper really stands out! :)

"Florentine Brown" Invitation Duo (invite & reply card)

I used a bold, graphic pattern along one edge of both the invitation and reply card to give it a funky, modern feel. Unlike most of my patterns, I actually printed this pattern in white and placed it on top of a rectangle of copper color.

I used the same pattern unit (two capital-Cs turned sideways and facing each other) to break up paragraphs of text on the invitation and to serve as check-boxes for guests to indicate their availability on the RSVP card.

Both the copper envelopes and the dark brown cardstock that borders both the invitation and reply card are metallic, and the picture below is a great example of how different colors show off their shine in different ways. The lighter copper reflects light much easier (and looks a lot shinier) than its darker brown counterpart, where the metallic shimmer is more subtle and sophisticated.

The ultra-shine of two metallic colors makes this design perfect for holidays like New Year's Eve, where glitter and shimmer are everything.


Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: "My Life in Green & Pink"


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Shameless Plug Time: Love this invitation (or others featured on this blog)? Want something similar (or something completely custom) designed for your event? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf, or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.

Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Through the Glass"

For the first Sunday Sample Spotlight of 2013, I present you with this elegant stationery set with a color scheme perfect for winter events - "Through the Glass."

"Through the Glass" Invitation Duo (invite & info card)

I used a metallic silver "Himalaya" pocketfold envelope with matching metallic silver cardstock as the main color of this sparkly stationery set. The invitation and information sheet are both printed on classic white cardstock, and then mounted to the silver backing with light blue brads and a beautiful two-toned blue ribbon.

The ribbon is a unique blend of satin and sheer - the shiny blue satin mimics the sparkle of the silver cardstock and envelope, while the sheer blue stripe lets the underlying pale blue pattern show through.

I love that when the envelope is folded closed, the silver speaks for itself. When you start to open it, the elegant pattern and ribbons are the first things you see!

As you can see in the photos below, the shiny silver envelope and paper can have quite a bit of sparkle to them, depending on the light. Just because paper is static and flat doesn't mean it has to be boring! Metallic papers are a great way to add interest and depth to your stationery.

The main invitation is only attached to the silver envelope on the left side (the three brads pierce through the ribbon, white cardstock, silver cardstock, and silver envelope), so you can lift up on the right side of the invitation for a peak of more of the beautiful silver envelope underneath!

This stationery set would be great for any elegant winter event, including December holidays, weddings, and anniversary dinners.

Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Art Nouveau"


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Shameless Plug Time: Love this invitation (or others featured on this blog)? Want something similar (or something completely custom) designed for your event? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf, or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.

2012 In Review

Happy New Year!

2012 was a very exciting year for this blog, so I'm all the more excited to see what 2013 will bring! But before we jump into the new year, I wanted to take just a moment to review some of the most popular and my personal favorite blog posts of 2012.

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The top three most visited posts:

1. Summer color combinations - Here, I showcased three color schemes I thought would work great for summer events, including the coral & jade color combo I used on my own wedding back in 2011! It's received nearly 800 pageviews since it was posted in May!

2. Spring color combinations - Less than a dozen pageviews behind my most-visited post, this entry from March includes inspiration boards for three different super-saturated bright springtime color schemes.

3. Winter color combinations - With nearly 700 pageviews since it was posted last January, this entry also features three inspiration boards - including a sophisticated neutral palette perfect not just for winter weddings, but events held at any time of year.

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Some of my favorite color scheme posts of 2012:

1. Leather & Light Sage - I love how versatile this color scheme is. The softness of the green feels feminine, but when you pair it with shades of brown and the texture of leather, it's also a testament to masculinity. The perfect marriage between vintage romance and the rustic outdoors, this color scheme is perfect for an outdoor wedding and works for almost any season!

2. Neon colors - Fashion is harkening back to the 1980s with oversized sweatshirts, crop tops, leggings, and neon colors. If you're into this youthful trend, don't be afraid to mix neon into even the most sophisticated events - neon colors are a great option for unique couples looking to liven things up!

3. Romantic/vintage wedding colors - Unlike many of my color scheme posts, this one doesn't feature an inspiration board - but rather describes how one my go about selecting neutral and blush pink shades by pulling tints and tones from photographs of roses and flamingos. I love the colors those photos come up with, and the unique way of finding such a great color scheme for an important event!

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My three favorite painting projects of 2012:

1. My patchwork-inspired watercolor sign - This post not only shows off the finished sign, but the step-by-step process I used to draw and paint it!

2. "Waterlilies" Watercolor - I didn't paint many watercolors last year, but I really like the way this small waterlilies painting turned out!

3. My "Once Upon A Time" inspired mural - I loved painting an homage to my favorite television show on my bedroom wall, and I've loved showing it off to visitors ever since! I especially loved the response I got from the Twitter community after a Once Upon a Time fan site retweeted my link!

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And finally...

My favorite stationery project of 2012:

In the summer, I designed and printed a set of stationery for one of my husband's coworkers' daughters, who was getting married. I love the exciting lime green and bright blue color scheme she chose, and it was a lot of fun making a completely custom, love-letter-inspired design for her and her Australian groom.

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Thank you to everyone who visited my blog in 2012 and helped me reach more than 15,000 total pageviews! I had a lot of fun writing all of these posts, and I want you to know how much I appreciate each and every one of you for visiting!

Keep checking back in 2013 for more posts!

<3

Andrea

Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Black Gold"

Can you believe it's almost 2013?? A big THANK YOU to all who've been regularly visiting my blog - making 2012 an amazing year!

I loved the metallic "antique gold" color of this petal-fold envelope so much that I left it as is - without adding any embellishments like ribbons or scrapbook paper.

"Black Gold" Invitation Duo (invite & reply card)

The gold reply envelope matches the petal fold envelope, and both the invitation and reply card are mounted on metallic onyx black cardstock for extra sparkle.

 The amount of shine on the metallic envelopes and papers depends on the angle to the nearest light source. In the photo below, you can really see how sparkly the materials can look - making this stationery set perfect for winter weddings and holiday parties (especially New Year's Eve)!

The invitation and reply card are printed with simple black and gold lettering and one of my favorite patterns on a classic white cardstock background.

If the pattern looks familiar to you, it may be because you've seen it on one of my first Fancy/Funky Friday posts, which I posted more than a year ago! I used this pattern on the invitations I created for my own rehearsal dinner, way back in July 2011.

Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Through the Glass" - another one of my absolute favorites!


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Shameless Plug Time: Love this invitation (or others featured on this blog)? Want something similar (or something completely custom) designed for your event? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf, or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.

Winter Color Combo: Periwinkle & Silver

Mix shades of periwinkle blue and silver for a distinctly winter feel perfect for an elegant wedding or holiday party!

I just love the wedding party in the middle of the last row of the inspiration board above. The long periwinkle gowns and warm white shoulder wraps epitomize this color scheme and the season. Bring those colors inside with long periwinkle tablecloths, crisp white napkins, and silver chiavari chairs. If you want to play up the Christmas season, hang tiny silver bells on silver spray-painted tree branches. You can even put a crystal bowl of silver and periwinkle ornaments out on each reception table as a beautifully festive centerpiece.

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Shameless Plug Time: Love this color combination? Looking for custom stationery made to match these colors (or whatever other color combinations you're using for your event)? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf, or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.

Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Purple Rain"

Sometimes elegant occasions call for sleek, simple stationery - and today's Sunday Sample Spotlight delivers just that.

"Purple Rain" - Invitation Duo (invite & reply card)

This stationery set features an invitation and reply card, both of which are printed on white paper and adhered to purple cardstock with pale lavender brads. The texture of the purple cardstock and the metallic shine of the silver "petal-fold" envelope give the design a touch of extravagance (without being too in-your-face or expensive), and the brads give three-dimensionality to each piece.

The calligraphic cursive font is simple and timeless - but the oversized elegant pattern that adorns the top of the invitation and reply card is large enough in scale that it gives the otherwise traditional design a more modern feel. Finally, I incorporated the brads into the pattern by punching them through the paper in the middle of a loopy form so that they would give the appearance of flowers. The end result is a beautiful, understated design with a crisp purple, silver and white color scheme that would work just as well for an anniversary celebration, New Year's party, or elegant dinner party as it would for a sophisticated wedding.

Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Froth au Lait"


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Shameless Plug Time: Love this invitation (or others featured on this blog)? Want something similar (or something completely custom) designed for your event? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf, or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.

Winter Event Color Combinations - Part 1

I've already posted some color combination ideas for New Year's Eve (and all of those color schemes would also work great for any other winter event), but here are some more color pairings that look fantastic this time of year. :)

Color Combination #1 - Lavender & Chocolate Brown

I love shades of purple. Growing up, I painted the walls of bedroom lavender. :) So, it should be no surprise that I really love this color combination. The lavender gives the rich brown a frosty look that's so perfect for winter. Plus, sprigs of wild lavender just look wintry, with their dark green and white stems and tiny buds - they'd make for great decorations or favors! Make sure you choose a brown that has a bit of warmth too it, to balance out the cool color of the lavender. That way, the color scheme will cover all aspects of winter, from the chilly weather to the warmth of staying indoors with family and friends. :)


Color Combination #2 - Wine & White

Thanks to Christmas commercialism, the bright red of poinsettia plants is one of the more common colors that come to mind this time of year - but just because it's associated with Santa's suit doesn't mean it has to feel like Christmas. Still, if that's a concern, it's easy to adapt the color to a classic, sophisticated dark burgundy, or a deep purplish-red wine. This color looks great paired with a pure white. Think of late season berries covered by a blanket of freshly fallen snow, and it's easy to see how perfect this color scheme is for the winter months.


Color Combination #3 - Pale Yellow & Slate Gray

Yellow is often thought of as a springtime color - and it certainly is sunny, and goes great with other bright colors for spring and summer events. But as long as the yellow is kept a little pale and desaturated, and paired with a cool-toned neutral like slate gray, it can also feel distinctly wintry. To tone down the brightness of the yellow, you can also add another neutral like a light cream to the mix. The end result is a very modern, sophisticated color scheme that works great for a late winter event, when everyone starts to feel the drag of the cold, dark winter months. The hint of yellow color acts like a ray of hope that the sun will shine again soon, without being too over-the-top and spring-like.

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Shameless Plug Time: Love these color combinations? Looking for custom stationery made to match these colors (or whatever other color combinations you're using for your event)? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf, or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.

Fancy/Funky Friday: Patterns Priscilla & Juanita

It's hard to believe 2011 is already winding to a close. Let's raise our glasses to the last Fancy/Funky Friday of 2011!

First, the "fancy": Pattern Priscilla

This is a pretty typical pattern in my "fancy" collection because it looks so lace-like and elegant with all of its curves. An interesting thing about Pattern Priscilla though is the amount of white space. Large chunks of empty space show up so frequently that they become another part of the pattern, and help to define a rather rigid structure for an otherwise overly frilly - and perhaps frivolous - design. The white spaces suggest vertical and horizontal lines, and enforce a structural grid upon the pattern that balances out the dense "fancy" details.


And now, the "funky": Pattern Juanita

I just had to show off this pattern in orange - the design looks so bright and sunny! This is another great pattern that plays with positive and negative space. The first thing you probably notice is the repetition of the circles - how could you not, when they're so bold and obvious? But if you look closer, you also start to notice the white squares of white space created with four of the circles acting as each of the square's corners, and the almost four-pointed star/sunburst shape in the middle of each square. That's what I really like about this pattern - the feeling of rays extending out from the sunny circles is repeated in the four-pointed shape inside each square.

To me, Pattern Juanita is a very summery print, but I also think its shapes are applicable to the events of this coming weekend. Doesn't it almost look like a chain of fireworks exploding, or perhaps the radiant ball dropping in Times Square?

Here's hoping 2012 will bring as much optimism and happiness for you as this pattern exudes! See you next year! ;)

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Shameless plug time: Love my patterns? 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 in use or drop me a line at andrea@invitesbyandrea.com to let me know what you think!

New Year's Eve Color Schemes

It's almost the end of 2011 and you know what that means - time to celebrate and welcome in the new year! And what better way to celebrate than hosting a party? ;)

I just love the idea of using clocks as decoration for a New Year's Party. If you're having a sit-down dinner, why not put a couple of mismatched tabletop clocks on every table? Look for a variety of different sizes and styles at antique stores. Old pocket-watches would also look sophisticated as part of a centerpiece, or scattered amongst some tabletop confetti. Make sure they're all synchronized, and set any alarm clocks for midnight. The bigger the cacophony of sounds, the better!

Another idea is to take a worldwide approach, and designate different ideas of your event venue as different time zones. Set up clocks in each zone for a specific city, and have a mini-celebration every time one of the zones hits that magical midnight hour! You can really carry this theme throughout the party, and have a table of appetizers or food samples at each station that corresponds to the area of the world it reflects.

New Year's Eve is also a great opportunity to use some classic, timeless color combinations.

Color Scheme #1 - Black and Gold

It seems that every piece of generic "Happy New Year" decoration you can purchase at a party store uses black and gold as their go-to colors. The problem with this color scheme is that it tends to be a little overused - but on the other hand, how can you get more classic than black and gold? If you pick this color scheme, finding matching decorations should be a breeze. Plus, there's just a certain symbolism to the colors that rings true for a new year's party. At midnight, the previous year will turn black, etched in our memories but no longer alive. Meanwhile, a new year is dawning, full of all the sparkle of hope and optimism for the next twelve months. Cheesy? Perhaps. But if done right, black and gold can also be very sophisticated and perfect for an end-of-the-year bash.

Color Scheme #2 - Blue and White

I love blue and white because it feels a little more fresh than the tired black and gold color scheme. Plus, it's very winery, which means it works just as well for any event this month - not just events that happen to fall on December 31st. If you can swing the cost, ice sculptures go perfect with this color combination, and they're another great New Year's symbol. There's something so beautiful about carved ice, and part of that beauty is because of how transient the sculpture is. You appreciate it more because you know that it won't last forever - just like every year that passes away to the next.

Color Scheme #3 - Purple and Silver

Purple and silver is another great color combination. They're both cool colors, so they instantly feel like winter, and they also have a regal enough history to bring that level of sophistication that New Year's Eve just seems to require. :)

Shameless plug time: Hosting an event? Need invitations? Check out invitesbyandrea.com to see some samples of my stationery!