Curiouser and Curiouser

What's new at Mew? Orchid Wedding Invitations

 

I'm at a stage in my business, about 1 1/2 years into it, where I'm starting to see referrals from past clients--this is one of the best parts about what I do.  I love hearing from someone new who came based on glowing reviews from a friend.  That's the case with these new Orchid Wedding Invitations   

A few months back I did a set of Nautical Wedding Invitations similar to these, for this new bride's friend out on Nantucket.  It sounds like the plan and style for these two weddings was totally different--these Orchid invites were designed for a Manhattan evening, affair with black tie attire requested.  The bride described some of the magnificent details to me, and it's all shaping up to be an eclectic mix of modern and minimalist shapes with rustic and organic touches.  Tricky to pull off, but my favorite decor style for sure.

These invitations are printed on 100% recycled matte ivory stock in brilliant hues of aubergine and emerald.  The tea length card is layered onto shimmering amethyst stock.  The bride chose an eco-friendly reply postcard to save paper and postage.  The entire suite, which also included directions cards for this couple, is being mailed in recycled kraft envelopes printed in coordinating aubergine ink.

Check out the Mew Studio to see more ideas for custom wedding invitations.

Bathroom Renovation for $500

Doesn't it figure that I can't find any before pictures?  Shoot.  Well try to use your imagination here...when I bought my place every single wall was painted ace-bandage beige.  Dino was not yet living here so I picked all the paint colors on my own.  In an effort to spruce up the upstairs bath (which is not large) I painted the wall a green color that seemed like a good idea at the time, but in reality looked like Kermit the Frog on a bad acid trip.  It was electric, anti-freeze green.  Not pretty. 

Besides the horrific paint choice, the bathroom had a very standard formica countertop over a very standard pickled oak square box of a vanity.  Oh, and an awesome $14 light fixture that looked like it would have fit right into a '70's dental office.  My place is less than 10 years old, but the contractor was not thinking style at all when he built it, obviously.

Since we've been living here together we've taken on a few DIY projects that have been great successes--we painted our kitchen cabinets, put up a pressed tin backsplash, installed hardwood floors, redid the powder room and changed a ton of light fixtures.  Dino's a regular handyman and his unemployment status makes him readily available for renovations!


We were debating getting a new, smaller vanity for the upstairs bath--but for $400 we would have lost a ton of space and had to deal with fixing damaged wall board where the old vanity came out.  So, our fix was to keep the base cabinet, paint it a clean, minimalist white and replace the formica top with a nice black granite with a deep bowl sink for $200.  We added modern handles and pulls to the drawers and doors for about $25, replaced the light fixture for $60, installed a gorgeous faucet for $150 and of course painted over that hideous green with a calm, cool blue.  We could have saved on the faucet, but it was hard to find something in the $80 price range that really fit what we were going for.  I was able to keep my old black and white damask shower curtain, and I didn't replace the towels so that saved a few bucks. 

Our overall expenditure was just under $500 and the project from start to finish took a week.  It was really done in two days or so, but the finishing details always drag don't they?


So our home improvement projects are nearing completion--last on our list are new kitchen counters and replace the carpet upstairs.  By the time we're finally done and this place is perfect, we'll probably be shipped off to Tulsa or some other obscure place for Dino to go to work!

Seriously--how do people do it all?

I was really on a roll there with the regular posting and then things got a little hairy round the studio in the past week or so.  But there's a lot brewing, so I'll be filling you in as I get a moment to breathe.

One fun little project was this Goddess Day Invitation that I whipped up for my yoga teacher.  She hosts this annual event with her fellow yoga teachers every year at her house and she told me she normally hand writes an invitation to her guests.  I was happy to come up with something on a whim to invoke feminine energy in honor of the occasion.

In other news, we finished our bathroom renovation--I've got details and pictures for another post.  That was actually a fun and fairly painless undertaking.  The bright side of unemployment is that Dino is around to do lots of household projects!

I had a great two days with my new part-time assistant last week--she's perfect, for real.  She already has an interest in invitation design so I can just ask her to do something, she totally gets it, and finishes it up without having to ask any questions.  Not that questions would be a bad thing.  I'm just thrilled with her competence level and can't wait to have her around again!

Mainly she was helping me meet deadlines for two massive weddings in July--both are next Saturday, one of which I will be attending as a guest.  The other, I've been keeping mum about at the request of the lovely bride--she wants her stationery suite to make a big impression on her guests when they see it for the first time at the event.  I've got pics in the camera waiting to share with you after the 18th.

I've been wondering how people who have full-time businesses at home, like myself, manage to blog regularly, twitter all through the day, return e-mails, update the accounting, ship orders, meet deadlines and eat lunch in a day.  I really struggle with doing it all.  Maybe it's because I like to structure my time and not work late into the night--are the rest of you working into the night?  Or maybe it's because I'm a really bad multi-tasker!  I am in awe of those of you who can keep up appearances on the social networks and operate a one-man business too.  What's your secret?

Best be getting back to it--stay tuned for more pics on the latest projects!

Fun, handmade craft--Paper Fish

Yesterday on Twitter I saw a tweet from the lovely Amy of The B-Line Blog about how she used leftover paint chips from the hardware store to make these adorable paper fish.  I was just smitten with the little fellas, that I actually totally stopped production on the 10,000 things I had been working on this week just to make a few.

Amy posts a detailed tutorial on her blog, so go there for instructions. 

I have two boxes that I keep under my work tables full of paper scraps--and already conveniently cut into the required narrow strips.  I started with some boring old ivory, and once I got the hang of it made a whole school of shimmery, jewel-tone ones.

It took me some time to get the hang of the weaving on the back side of the fish--but that is because I'm impatient and if I don't get it right away i get frustrated!  Once I finally got the knack I took to slicing all the fins and then sort of quilling or curling them for a lacy effect.  I gave each of my fish a Swarovski crystal pair of eyes and strung them on clear string with three blue beads to simulate bubbles.  I actually did make a mobile, as Amy suggests, and I love how it came out--but the photos (as usual with me) are not worthy of posting just yet, so perhaps another time.

For the mobile, I didn't have the round bangle that Amy used, so I cut a disk of cardboard about 6" (I would recommend going a little bigger next time so that the fish have room to float on their strings) and covered it with decorative paper top and bottom.  Than, I strung my fish at varying heights and used the same blue glass beads as stoppers at the top of the disk so they would stay put. 

Believe it or not, I'm not really the crafty type--sure, I make handmade stationery, but it's rare for me to stop everything and take on a totally unrelated project.  Thanks for the great idea Amy!

The time my foot almost swelled off from bites.

Ahhhh summer...in a condo!  Four feet of green space over run by rambunctious children whose favorite game is SCREAM AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS AND THEN SCREAM LOUDER!  Fan freekin' tastic.

On the rare occasions when we indulge in a little outdoor time at our own home our only option is to sit on our deck--6' x 8' with a few giant support posts down the middle making it nearly impossible and terribly uncomfortable to maneuver with anything other than a beer in one hand, and a citronella fogger in the other.

Monday evening was one such night.  The children must have gone to bed because the usual screaming was not to be heard.  We were drinking wine after dinner with our neighbor when I suddenly started to feel the bug bites coming on.  After one particularly gnarly sting I went inside to bed because I just couldn't stand it.

And then, when I woke up in the morning my right foot was swollen beyond expectation--it looked as if you had inflated it like a blow-up raft!  And with two huge lumps where who/whatever chomped down on me.  It was hot and red too!  Throughout the day, more of those little lumps appeared in a trail across my foot.  When I put my flip flop on, it left a mark from the strap because of how tight the swelling made them.  Not sure this picture I took is really an accurate depiction--it was bad!

Today the swelling has improved a bit, but I still have that old-lady-foot thing going on where it's kind of spilling out of my shoes!  Not completely convinced that it was a spider biting me, but if it was a mosquito it had to be a vampire because it had a feast on me!

Should we move to St. John?

This question has been coming up a lot in our household lately.  Usually it's a fleeting thought that goes as quickly as it comes.  But more often, it's becoming an in-depth discussion with multiple perspectives, pros vs. cons and major reality checks.

Here's the thing:  We're young.  Dino is currently unemployed.  We have no children, and no plans to have children.  When you look at the bare bones of the situation it seems like a no-brainer--let's do it, what do we have to lose at this point?

But of course there are the obvious family ties.  I've lived within an hour of my family for most of my life, except for spending one year in Boulder, Colorado during my very early twenties.  My dad doesn't really travel, at least not by air, so we wouldn't see him much.  Dino is already quite far from his family, and they do travel freely so we know they'd visit. 

We're considering St. John because it is a US territory which is important for obvious reasons to us, as Americans.  Some of the other issues on the table are the following:

Boredom.  Sure, when you go on vacation everything is wonderful and fun and romantic.  But when you actually live on an island you have to deal with the weather, the isolation, inflated prices and tourists!  Chances are we'd be working in bars or hotels, which means we're waiting hand and foot on the vacationers, not the other way around!

My business.  The nature of my handmade wedding invitation business is online-based leaving me with lots of freedom to do it from wherever I hang my hat.  The flip-side is that I'd be dealing with increased shipping costs and slow delivery times for my materials.  And hurricane weather could make my power source less than reliable--with no internet connection how can I conduct business as usual?  Plus, what kind of space would I be dealing with?  If we are renting a one bedroom apartment it could be a pretty uncomfortable scenario.

Travel.  I hate doing it.  If it would mean air travel at busy, hectic holiday times than I am NOT on board!  That goes for anywhere we'd move to, actually.  I do not see myself getting on an airplane at any point between Thanksgiving and New Years.  This fact, knowing that I'm a bit of a Grinch, is not surprising though.

So those are some of the glaring cons.  But the pros...oh, the pros!  I have always admired you free-spirited types.  Just get up and go, wherever the wind blows.  We're so conditioned in this society to be ruled by finances, and things so the thought of giving up all of that to live a little bit more freely seems absurd.  We could do it for just a year, no commitment.  Or we could do it forever and ever!  The ocean is my life-blood, so the opportunity to be a part of it is very tempting.  And how romantic, right, the whole scene.  What'd be the harm in just trying it out?  We could always come back, no?

What would you do, if you had a clean slate right now?  Do you think we're insane, or should we book your flight too?

Planning a wedding by the sea

I read all the time about people who wish they could do their weddings over again every year--marrying the same person every time of course!  But wouldn't it be fun to do it again and again, so that you could incorporate all the style elements you didn't even know you loved the first time around?

This season I've designed wedding invitations for 12 couples tying the knot in oceanside ceremonies.  If Dino and I ever renew our vows (hard to imagine they could ever be more touching than the first time) I would definitely love to do it standing on the sand.

Here are a few ideas to get the wheels turning for your own beach wedding.

1.  Seaglass Wedding Invitations by yours truly
2.  Shell place cards via Martha Stewart
3.  Personalized parasol from Fox and Prince
4.  Engagement ring photo by my friend Meghan of Creative Image Collections
5.  Tablescape via Martha Stewart
6.  Beach Feet, another one of Meghan's photos
7.  My friends, The Doyle's at their 2007 Block Island Wedding--photo by Dru Nadler
8.  The Doyle's sweet handmade sailboat place cards--photo by Dru Nadler

Just say a firm and resounding NO to the boy's shag haircut

Someone needs to take a stand against this horrific, yet ever-present style failure referred to as a "shag" haircut.  I finally had a chance to bask in the relief that the Jersey Blowout has gone extinct (but for a small population of tool-bags on Staten Island) and now a whole new breed of ridiculousness is being born.

Who's idea was this?  I don't want to blame it on John, Paul, George and Ringo--they pulled it off in their day.  And even a genuine surfer-dude can pull it off--perhaps it's that natural sun kissed blonde that makes it acceptable. 

But the new crop of adolescent boys and young celebrities, like the dorks from NYC Prep on Bravo, make me twitch when I watch them doing that awkward head-whip/sweep-away/tic-like movement.  (And yes, I watched the premiere of that show, yes I am ashamed, and no it won't happen again.)  Cut the bangs above your nostrils and maybe you wouldn't have to lope around like a lost sheep dog.

I don't claim to be any sort of authority on style, and maybe it makes me the one who just doesn't get it, but whatever happened to a neatly trimmed, close haircut, or at least a tidy ponytail???

Vintage Hula Plaques--Weekend Tag Sale Find!

I'm sure I've talked about my mom's obsession with tag sales in the past on this blog--haven't I?  Obsession might be an understatement--she goes every weekend and especially Fridays when the hard-core professionals hit the pavement with their Pennysaver directories in hand!  I don't really remember when she started, but a thrifty lifestyle is nothing new for her.  As a kid, I  had a few girls who I would get hand-me-down clothes from...very few that I ever really liked.  And even now, as an adult, I get tons of gifts from tag sales.  Like last year, for my 28th birthday--a picnic backpack.  Awesome, thanks mom.

More often than not, she really scores.  You can be looking for the most obscure thing and she will find it, new and still in the box.  Recently she grabbed an electric, warming toilet seat--unopened of course.  I can not make this stuff up, friends, it's all true.  A lot of the times she grabs things that no one really needs or wants, but at one point in history might have mentioned having an interest in--though I can't really ever recall vocalizing my need for a picnic backpack!  Many of my homes, including my current abode are furnished with someone else's trash, that we've refurbed into really neat treasures.

This past weekend she found some good ole' junk--including a fabulous Martha Stewart kitchen island.  She gave me the address of that sale and I ran right over.  It's huge--with a nice butcher block top, and drawers on both sides.  I'll post pics of that in another post.

She also found these weird/adorable little vintage plaques for me--for 25 cents!  Someone else has to think these are as cool as I do!  Aren't they darling?  They remind me of the original Tropicana orange juice packaging before they re did it into the lame, design failure that they are today.  Remember that little hula girl with the basket of oranges on her head?  They're also conjuring images of a children's version of the Broadway classic South Pacific. 

They're made out of masonite, and I hung them in my kitchen over a (faux) vintage Hot Dog sign.  So cute!  Oh, and on a side note--how great is that "fly paper" behind???  That was a score at the Elephant's Trunk flea market last time I went.

New Wedding Invitations and a Brief Business Evaluation

Lately, I've been trying to squeeze out a new design or idea in between everything that I have going on for my paying clients.  This new handmade wedding invitation set, pictured here, is actually a wedding gift for my dear friends.  The couple is tying the knot in October here in Connecticut, at the Spa at Norwich Inn.  They got engaged in December and things are moving rather quickly.

They went for a shimmery gold pocket fold, with navy ink and a metallic navy accent border.  The pocket holds three enclosures--Response Card, Directions Card and Accommodations Card.  They chose a stylish belly band printed on translucent vellum to close the pocket.  The entire suite will be mailed to guests in double Euro-Flap envelopes printed with a little detail from the invitation design.  The bride even ordered custom stamps to coordinate the ensemble.

A note on postage, while we're on the subject--this invitation suite, and similar pocketfold styles are typically a minimum of three ounces so you'll need extra postage.  Stamps.com is a great option because you can customize the stamp in the amount you need, rather than having to use multiple stamps that may or may not match.  Most post offices will recommend hand cancelling an envelope of this thickness--usually about 3/16".

I mentioned a brief business evaluation--I didn't dig in too deep this morning, but I quickly compared my book keeping spreadsheets from 2008 to current.  I'm very proud and excited to have surpassed my total number of weddings from last year, by the mid-way point of this year! Things are just going along swimmingly if I can say that without sounding boastful.  I'm seeing lots of repeat clients--brides who are coming back for their wedding details like placecards, programs and menus--as well as referrals from my loyal past clients.  This is the greatest feeling!

At one point in my life I would have been afraid of "jinxing" a good streak.  But after reading and practicing the Law of Attraction I have learned how to usher good things into my life with a sense of tremendous gratitude, not entitlement.  Gratitude helps me remember how hard I have to work to be successful without living in fear of the bottom falling out any minute.  This type of fear or insecurity blocks good energy from coming to me, so I try to only focus on the positives on a moment to moment basis.  Every day of doing this work is a great day for me, lucky girl that I am!