Fall Wedding Series #1 - The Invitation

It's been 313 days since I married the love of my life. To celebrate our upcoming one year anniversary, I decided to finally share all the projects I did for my wedding. Everything turned out amazing! Exactly how I pictured it. It required tons of work, but it was so much fun! So for the next eight weeks, I will be posting all of my projects to celebrate being married to the most amazing man ever! :)

Our wedding was on October 27, 2012. It was an outdoor wedding at Magnolia Mound Plantation. We had a rustic/autumn theme. My main color was a dark blue teal with accents of creams and golds. After I decided on the general theme and colors, I immediately started thinking about what my invitation would look like. I am a graphic designer, and invitations are my favorite to create! So making my invitation was a process.... a process that lasted months. I wanted something fall (but not "too" fall), something rustic, something DIFFERENT.

I think I achieved that!

The Invitation Design

A simple design with teal and gold colors printed on a shiny metallic champagne cardstock.

The Pocket Design

I used a gold metallic pocket to hold the invitation. Around the pocket, I used double-sided tape to secure teal ribbon. Then I wrapped some jute string around it, and secured it in place by hot gluing a wooden heart with our initials.

Those hearts.... oh those hearts.... I sent hours using a wood burning tool to make around 80 of them!

The Envelope Design

I used a metallic champagne envelope that matched the invitation paper. Made the labels using some brown kraft label paper and a heart shaped hole punch, along with lots of measuring and cutting.

And of course Kitti had to help! :)

Mailing my invitations! I was excited! :)

I bought my invitation cardstock, pockets, and envelopes from Paperandmore.com.

Check out my other Fall Wedding Series posts here: http://createsharerepeat.blogspot.com/search/label/Wedding

❤ Emily

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Etsy Shop

HOW embarrassing! It's been such a long, long, LONG time since my last blog post! I think I have an good excuse though... getting MARRIED and all! :) It was such a wonderful day! I had SO many projects I did for my wedding. Everything turned out exactly how I imagined it. I plan on posting those projects eventually so keep an eye out for that!

Here's one of my favorite pictures from my wedding day. Taken by Janey Pie Photography.

In other news, and the reason I am writing this post today...

I have officially opened an Etsy shop! YAY!

I love making invitations so I decided to sell some online! I only have a few up there right now... variations of ones I have made before. I opened the shop at the end of November, and finally got my first sale today! I was SO excited! Hopefully it will lead to more sales! :)

I love doing custom orders so next time you are needing an invitation for a birthday party, shower, wedding, etc., consider me! :)

Merry Christmas!

❤ Emily

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Project of the Week: Learn a lot with Mrs. Scott Blog Design

My sister-in-law, Katherine, started a new teacher's blog recently and needed some help with the design of it. She had been getting a lot of views so she wanted it to look good. She knew she wanted it to be blue with green polka dots and to have an owl. That's where I came in! In just a few hours, I revamped her blog! Check it out!

http://learnalotwithmrsscott.blogspot.com

130 days until my wedding!  I'll have a lot of fun projects to post from it the months to come! :)

♥ Emily

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Project of the Week: Save The Dates

My wedding is only 6 months away, and I think I am on schedule with everything I need to get done! In March, Janey Pie Photography took our engagement pictures, and last week, I sent out a save the date postcard that I designed featuring one of those pictures! We have a lot of family from out of town (especially on Will's side) so we wanted to make sure everyone had an heads up so they can plan to travel! And well... it was also just a fun little project for me to do! :)

Front of postcard

Back of postcard

The process for this save the date took awhile because, as a graphic designer, I wanted to set up a brand for all my wedding graphics. So in order to design my save the date, I had to design my wedding invitation. It was difficult (as I knew it would be) to decide what would be the perfect design for my wedding day. I wanted something that said "fall" but wasn't overly fall... No orange leaves or pumpkins.  After I finally was satisfied with my invitation design (which you will have to wait and see!) everything else, like the save the date, fell into place!

I also have been working on my wedding website, www.barlettwedding.com (A hint of what the invitation will look like). I wanted someplace for my guests to go to learn a little more about the wedding, especially places to stay.

The wedding invitation, save the date and the website were the biggest projects for my wedding lately, so now that they are complete,  I need to start focusing on what's next!  :)

♥ Emily

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Project of the Week: Baby's 1st birthday invite and cupcake stand

Merry Christmas!

Sorry I have been so quiet lately! I have been sick for a long time now (a month and a half) with a sinus infection. I think it's FINALLY starting to go away. Just in time for Christmas! Pray that it stays away!

Being sick has really been bad for my Christmas spirit! There has been so many things I wanted to work on but couldn't! I did manage to do a few things. I did a party invitation and cupcakes for my niece Natalie's first birthday!

I made the cupcakes from scratch and found the cute little cupcake holders at Party Time. I made the palm tree cupcake stand. It was SUPER easy!! I will definitely be making more stands in the future! This is how I made it...

First I got 3 different sized cake boards. (You can find these at Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Party Time.)  I used a 10", 12" and 14" boards.

To cut out lots of palm leaves from some scrapbook paper and glued them down to the cake boards.

For support between the cake boards, I used salt boxes (still filled with salt) covered in brown scrapbook paper.

I hot glued everything together except the top cake board. I attached it to the salt box with velcro so I could easily remove the cake for Natalie to eat!

Happy 1st birthday, Natalie!

Yummy!

I hope to make one more post before the end of the year of a Christmas project that I had been working on that I thankfully finished even though I was sick! So keep an eye out for that!

♥ Emily

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Project of the Week: Baby Shower Invite

I met my friend Monica when we were freshman at LSU. She quickly become one of my best friends. We lived together for two years and had so many fun times together. After she graduated, she moved up to Shreveport and got married. And now, years later, she is having a baby girl! I hate that she lives 4 hours away from me, and that it's hard to visit with our busy lives. But I am so happy for her and was honored to be able to do her baby shower invitations!

Most information has been changed on invitation.

The inspiration for this invitation came from the fabric in the baby's room. After much searching I was able to find two images online with a high enough resolution to get the shapes I wanted for my invitation.

As I work on these projects,  I find that I really love doing two things: Decorating cakes and designing invitations. I think it's because in both cases, I am making something completely custom for that person, so it's extra meaningful to them. I find that very fulfilling. I would love to make them both a career one day. I just hope God grants me the opportunities for that to happen. And that being said...

Attention Readers!!

If you, or anyone you know, has an event coming up (birthday, wedding, bridal shower, baby shower, etc.) and would like a custom invitation, please consider me! I would love to work with you to create something that is truly unique for your occasion! I can do the design and the printing! And since I am just starting out, I am sure I can cut you a great deal!

Also, if you are in need of a cake, I may be willing to take on that as well!

For a look at my graphic work, visit my Elance portfolio at http://lsugdesigner.elance.com
If you are interested in getting a custom invitation (or cake), please email me at emily@createsharerepeat.com

I have three more big projects coming up that I am doing for Monica's baby shower. First, I am making custom wall art for the baby room which will spell the baby's name... which is Landry by the way! Then, of course, is the baby shower cake. This is the first cake I am doing for a really large crowd, and I have to with it drive 4 hours in the car with it... in August... in Louisiana! So wish me luck!  Also, I will be taking Monica's maternity pictures. I will be posting these projects in a few weeks after the baby shower!

Until then, I leave you with a few pictures from the old ol' Monica and Emily college days! I miss you, Monica!

 

 ♥ Emily

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Project of the Week: Christening Invitation

(Invitation information has been altered for privacy)

Last week I posted some darling pictures I took of my nieces and sister-in-law. If you haven't seen them yet, click HERE! One of the reasons we look these pictures was so I could use them for an invitation for Natalie's Christening. Katherine is having a color theme of yellow and blue for the luncheon afterward so I made sure to carry that over into the invitation.

If you are interested in having me design a custom invite for your party, wedding, etc., please contact me at emily@createsharerepeat.com!

This week I am working on the cake for the christening! I am definitely looking forward to this one. I am really going to challenge myself. Wish me luck! I should have photos up next week!

♥ Emily

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Project of the Week: Baby Shower Invite

I have a new niece or nephew due on December 30th! We are kind of hoping he or she will make its appearance BEFORE Christmas... not ON or after!!

I have been knowing the baby's mama, Katherine, since high school. I got to throw her a Bridal Shower two years ago, and this year I am throwing her a baby shower! It's been a little difficult not knowing if it is a boy or girl. I have to make sure things stay neutral! I am going with an animal/fall theme. I think it's going to turn out very nice.

Since being a graphic designer is my occupation, naturally I was going to design the invitation myself. Here it is (Names and address have been changed for privacy):

 

I love love LOVE making invitations. I love being able to customize them to the occasion and person! Let me know if you have an event coming up and would like a customized invitation! I would be happy to make them! Christmas is coming up soon and people like to send out custom holiday cards! I can do those too! If anyone is interested, email me at createsharerepeat@gmail.com.

I have a couple of cool baby shower projects coming up that I will be posting in a couple of weeks! One will be a cake! I started cake classes again this past Thursday, and will have one every week until mid December! I am excited to be learning again!

Happy Monday!

-Emily

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I won! I won! I won!!

Okay, so I have been knowing this for awhile now, but I wanted to wait to it was officially announced to tell you... I won a t-shirt contest!!!

Check it out here!
http://www.webgallerydisplay.com/breada_newsletter/?gallery=3511&page=

If you remember last month, I posted that I entered a t-shirt design contest. The contest was for BREADA, a non-profit, parent organization of both Main Street Market and the Red Stick Farmers Markets which are located right across the street from the building I work in Downtown Baton Rouge.

The contest theme was “Buy Fresh Buy Local." Designs could include Louisiana fruits, vegetables, seafood, market items, or farm life. I did my design the day before it was due. I wasn't going to do it at first, but since I go to the market almost daily, I figured I might as well give it a shot. I submitted my design, and about a week later I got an email... not saying I won... but that they wanted changes to the design. I was thinking ...ooooookay? If I am making changes, I better win!

First design submitted

Final design after changes. They wanted outlines of vegetables in the back.
All I could think was why didn't I think of that? LOL... That's what I get
for being so last minute!

After I submitted the final design, I got an email back a week later saying that I did win! I won a free
t-shirt, a market bag, and $50 in market tokens!

I was told yesterday that they are changing the colors of my design though. They want it to be more "Fall" colors for this time of year. I am not too fond of the change. Maybe it will look better on the shirt...

Check out the Red Stick Farmers Market on Saturdays from 8am-12pm! It's located on the corner of 5th St. and Main St. There are lots of fresh fruits and veggies, and every first Saturday there are arts and crafts too! You can buy my shirt while you are there!! :)

http://redstickfarmersmarket.org/main/

Right next to the Red Stick Farmers Market is the Main Street Market. This is where I go many days of the work week. Check out the pumpkin muffin at Charlie's Coffee, the wraps at FRESH Salads and Wraps, or the chicken salad at Taste of Downtown. DELICIOUS!!!!

http://www.mainstreetmarketbr.org/main/

Have a happy Wednesday!

-Emily

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Project(s) of the last couple of weeks! Graphics, Cakes and more!

Hey you... hey you reading my blog!! If you haven't already, sign up for my Christmas ornament giveaway!!!

Send me a comment, email, facebook message, ANYTHING letting me know you would like to sign up! You don't have to know what you want on the ornament yet... we can figure that out later! Or I can come up with something for you! Just sign up! :)

But anyways, back to the real purpose of this blog!! I have been a busy girl lately! I have worked on several projects that I have to share with you.  I mentioned a couple of them in a previous blog, but at the time they weren't complete.

One was my dining room. It was a boring white color. I went to my brother's new house and saw the beautiful green color of their living room wall, and I HAD to have it! I knew it would be perfect in my dining room! So after hours of painting, repainting, running out of paint and borrowing paint (Thank you, Katherine!), I finally finished the room! And I was right... the color was PERFECT!

Will, Jack and Kitti helping!

Before picture...
Not our furniture. This is how it looked when
we were first looking at the house.

 

 

I love the view of the pond!

The other project I mentioned before was a graphic for my friend Andrea's blog. She told me she wanted a picture of a frying pan with the handle morphing into a ball of yarn! And that's what I gave her!

Check her blog out at creativecakesandcrochet.blogspot.com! She has posted some really cool projects up there! Especially her wreath! I think we are going to get together soon for a craft night to make Fall wreaths! :)

Last week I decided after much debate to enter a t-shirt contest. The market across the road from my building was hosting the contest. The theme was Eat Fresh, Eat Local so the t-shirt needed to represent Louisiana fruits and/or veggies and/or seafood, etc. I first visioned a fleur de lis.... okay... Let me stop here to say that I don't like the fleur de lis... they are EVERYWHERE. Everything has a fleur de lis on it... I'm kind of sick of it. But I understand that a lot of people like it so I don't mind using it in my designs. Anyways, I first envisioned a fleur de lis made up of lot of fruits and veggies. But I never did it because I knew I would want to draw out all the fruits and veggies and that would take more effort than I was willing to do at the time. So I decided to take the idea to another level....

I used the fleur de lis to represent a fruit or veggie on a fork. On the inside of the fleur de lis, I listed many types of Louisiana fruits and veggies. I have no idea when the winner of the contest will be announcced. I won't be too sad if I don't win. I came up with the design a day before it was due! I felt like I needed to enter something since I go to the market all the time! And the award is $50 to spend at the market... mmmmm... $50 worth of pumpkin muffins and chicken salad!! :) I will let y'all know the results!

This past Thursday was my last cake design class. We learned how to write with icing and how to make roses with icing.  Then we got to decorate our final cakes however we liked! Since I was bringing the cake to work the next day, I picked a themed that tends to work for everyone.... LSU!

I am proud of the way my cake turned out, and I really feel that I learned a lot in class... but I still have a lot to go! I have two more cake classes to take, the Flowers and Cake Design class and the Gum Paste and Fondant class! I start the Gum Paste and Fondant Class next week!

I have also been cooking a bunch of yummy things the past couple of days that I would like to share with you! My mom gave us a frozen turkey she had so on Sunday I decided to cook it for the week! I cooked it in an oven bag. It came out delicious! You can find the recipe here.

It was very pretty!

The next night I decided to take some of the leftover turkey and make a gumbo. OMG it came out so GOOD! I owe my mom for that one. She taught me!

Nothing makes me happier than the smell of a fresh roux!
My favorite smell on Earth!!

MMMMMM

I also made some fresh bread this weekend. It is a recipe my friend Jane gave to me. They bread went so well with the gumbo... Good dippin' bread! YUM! I will need to get that recipe up here soon!

Lastly I just wanted to share some art I bought for my kitchen at an Arts and Crafts Festival this past weekend! 

Those are all my projects the last couple of weeks! I hope to work on my crawfish painting this week if I get the time! Leave comments, and don't forget to sign up for my ornament giveaway!

-Emily

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