one of our favorite designers, jessica hische, created the artwork for the 2012 love stamp. we had the pleasure of hearing jessica speak at the denver art museum a few months ago and she is both brilliant and hilarious. her stamp will be released on valentine’s day and it is a “forever” stamp, which means that it will be valid for first class mail even when they raise the postage rates. really. it just doesn’t get better than this in the world of stamps!
we know these will grace many a wedding invite this year. we'll be stocking up - after all, they will always be useful and they're quite beautiful.
inspiration for a custom wedding suite we’re designing for cori & tyler.
1. top 2 left photos: carrie patterson photography 2. wooden rsvp: bird and banner
3. bouquet and boutineer: ladybird poppy 4. cake: susie cakes
any new year’s resolutions yet? we love lydia nichols’ illustration:
write more letters by lydia nichols
we’ve got a brand new look! it has been in process for quite some time now, and it feels fantastic to see it come alive at last. we couldn’t have done it without our talented friends daniel evan garza and tim zappe.
take a look around. we hope you find the navigation intuitive. “bespoke” showcases custom work – our design services. identity design finally has a home here, which is exciting because we love showing off our logos.
“readymade” encompasses all of our greeting cards, posters and wedding collection – our products. we’ll be adding more cards and posters this spring so check back and see what’s new!
special thanks to nate galuzzi for photographing the bulk of our work. he’s got mad skills! check him out.
happy holidays everyone!
We’ve got some new holiday cards this season. Check ‘em out!
We’re so excited to bring you a whole new collection entirely printed on 100% post consumer recycled paper. It’s the best recycled paper out there combining uncompromising quality and luxury with an environmentally friendly nature.
There’s more where those came from… Go on and take a look!
fall weddings have a charm all their own. here’s some fall wedding programs from our “peacock” wedding suite.
the pair of birds is an adorable motif on teal with the rustic background.
we were glad to create these on short notice for latonya’s intimate wedding. our collection designs can always be turned around quickly.
congratulations, latonya and jeffrey!
what a cute proposal!
eryn and sean are another great couple we had the pleasure of working with over the summer. we partnered with them to personalize one of our collection designs to match their rustic “restoration hardware” style wedding. we used the masquerade collection design as our base. from there, we created a beautiful custom monogram and changed the colors to a warm fall palette.
pieces in their collection include custom map card to help their guests locate the stunning devil’s thumb ranch, save the date, custom rsvp including meal options for the reception, thank you cards
we’ve been so excited to share a couple weddings we designed for that took place over the summer. these projects were customizations of some of our collection designs. these are just a few examples of how you can truly personalize one of our existing collection suites to match your wedding vision. today, we want to specifically introduce you to ashley and adam! they are such a sweet couple and so incredibly easy to work with! we couldn’t have been more honored to create this suite to match ashley’s favorite colors.
ashley + adam
{collection : amber}
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invitation, save the date, rsvp, reception info/ map, and two wedding photos, thanks to Dream Wedding Photography.
see the original amber collection design over at: Premiere Collection Gallery
here is another recent baby shower invitation that {ampersand} was commissioned to design. we had a blast creating the custom illustrations for this one. we love that lil owl and its leafy perch.
let us know if you have any weddings, parties or events in need of some unique illustrations!
here are a couple of our latest custom projects featuring some custom illustration…hot off the press!
clever graduation announcement
cute baby shower invite
design*sponge has a great post today about the Next Big Thing: custom.
“… I have high hopes that affordable custom work is something we can all look forward to in the next few years. Not only does it let you get something that works for your style and your life, but it also gives you the rare opportunity to work hand-in-hand with a local artist and get to see that artist’s process (and talent) in action — something that’s really hard to do when you’re just ordering a chair online.”
we thrive as part of a rising movement towards quality, authentic and unique goods that are created in relationship with you. nothing inspires and challenges our creativity like this process. it feels so appropriate to bring our custom design strategy to bear on weddings, which continue to evolve as a blank canvas for self-expression.
As seen on CRAVE Company’s blog.
One of the key takeaways from our research and interviews with brides is to plan your wedding with your own authenticity in mind. Wedding trends and traditions are fantastic to reference; however, during the wedding planning process brides can quickly get swept away in the idea of creating the “perfect” wedding and in the end feel stressed as well as overwhelmed.
From what we’ve noted, the best wedding experiences are those that are planned with the bride and groom’s priorities at the center. Family, friends and even some wedding vendors may want to paint a picture for your wedding that fits what they have in mind for a picturesque day, but it’s the bride and groom’s vision of their own personal wedding day that matters.
One of our favorite stories from “Unveiling Weddings” shares this idea. We call it the “Lemon Cake Story”. The bride, Lauren, was in her residency at a prestigious hospital and did not have time to plan her wedding so she let her mom plan the whole thing – huge white dress, tent, large guest list, fancy… everything. Lauren’s mom had been dreaming of her wedding day since she was a little girl. Lauren’s only request was to have a lemon cake and she was totally disappointed when her mother chose a white cake with raspberry filling instead. Here, the bride was able to navigate difficult situations at the hospital every day and she could not even get her favorite cake at her own wedding. A few weeks before her wedding her friends through her a mini shower and surprised her with a lemon cake. We love this story because it demonstrates the complexities of the wedding process. Even the most capable of women struggle to get what they want in the midst of family dynamics.
Typically, an engagement lasts up to 16 months and can create a time for a bride and groom to develop a solid platform for their future marriage. A terrific tip is for the bride and groom to figure out your priorities. Create a list and figure out your top three. For example, your list may include:
a.) stay on budget,
B.) invite as many of my friends and family as I can, and
c.) create a meaningful ceremony.
Post the list on a place where you can see it, and visit when need be (such as when all your single friends assume it’s okay to bring a date to your wedding). Keep these big-picture conceptual priorities at your fingertips will not only keep you on track but will diffuse any stress or anger that gets triggered by the mundane (and the ridiculous!) Remind yourself of the real reasons you are getting married and create the wedding of your dreams.
Rebecca Sacerdoti, PhD and Tasha Jackson Fitzgerald, MA are co-authors of Unveiling Weddings, a book that support today’s bride with emotional and spiritual guidance during her engagement. Filled with entertaining stories, professional insight and tips to demystify this important rite of passage, stories in “Unveiling Weddings” unveil the emotional hurdles, family dramas and personal breakthroughs that are typically hidden from the public eye. It’s a warm-hearted, inspiring and relevant read that will put even the most stressed out bride-to-be at ease. To read a few pages or buy the book, visit www.unveilingweddings.com.
here’s a first on this blog: an e-invite. gasp!
now, let it be said that we are extremely partial to paper. it’s oh-so touchable, post-able, archive-able. and as we’re increasingly consumed by a sea of electronic communications, paper mementos are all the more delightful in their rarity.
but sometimes, last minute parties HAPPEN. and there is simply no time for lovely paper invites to make their way from the press to envelopes to mailboxes across town. yes, everything that makes paper invites so special makes them challenging on a tight schedule.
throwing a party without invitations just makes me too sad to bear. and so, e-invites were designed and emailed and saved the day!
to set the tone I chose a color palette directly from pantone’s color forecast for 2011. it is a FANTASTIC resource for brides searching for wedding color inspiration that will be absolutely of-the-moment and on-trend for this year.
congratulations to everyone who got engaged over the holiday! it’s such a magical time of year to get engaged. every time I turn around I to meet another lucky bride-to-be.
our {loveandpaper} etsy shop is up and running! we’ve got some fun note cards that work as postcards or flat notes. there are thank you’s, love notes, and some that simply can’t be categorized which are my personal favorite. but you’ll just have to go there to see those.
we’re happy to do local sales if you’d like to avoid shipping. a set of cards makes a great last minute christmas gift!
a small group of friends recently threw a party to toast autumn. it felt like just the right time to host a big bash before the hectic holidays sweep us all away. i have to confess that, as lovely as the soirée was, designing the invite was half the fun for me!
this pattern was inspired by the turning and falling of leaves. i love how the vibrant colors jump off the neutral background. it’s at once playful and sophisticated. it was printed on the back and was the first thing guests saw when they opened the envelope. i love creating little moments of surprise like that!
on the front, i did a bit of calligraphy in bright persimmon for something elegant and contemporary. it was perfect with our swanky 10th-floor lounge downtown and our autumn theme.
1. dress: vera wang 2. figurines: says the tree 3. cake: real simple 4. flowers: st jude’s creation
5. shoes: GUESS by marciano 6. stars: shanna murray 7. save the date: {ampersand}
drumroll please: {ampersand} is now listed in the CRAVE Denver book! we are proud to be featured among so many phenomenal, stylish women-owned businesses. CRAVE guides have been published in several major cities and it’s about time that denver had its own! the world needs to know that denver’s cow-town days are long gone and we have style and substance to spare. CRAVE is an entertaining and informative guide to the best local, independent female retailers and service providers in denver. it is THE guide for a youthful urban woman who wants to stay on trend, on top of her game, and support local businesses while she does it.
you can check out more of our photos here, and see other cities’ guides here until CRAVE Denver hits bookstore shelves in a couple months.
hi friends, i wanted to post some lovely photos of my cousin’s wedding, which i traveled out to in michigan. i will probably add more to this as the photographer makes them available. their wedding was shot by bryan and mae photography. amazing.
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i love the idea of the goof booth, even with no props. it still provides a chance to get photos of the friends and family who attend your wedding and have a bit more character to them.
1. flowers: ladybirdpoppy.com 2. invite/pins: ampersandllc.com/customgallery
3. cake: fleurdelisacakes.com 4. yellow shoes: thestudionouveau.com 5. dress: anthropologie.com
