love for paper and the perfect invitation

diegas and i were engaged in italy. this is a vintage poster that altered to include diegas' face and my hair for our save-the-dates

i have a love for paper products. it's not an obsession where i buy beautiful stationary, wrapping paper and hand crafted paper items whenever i see them. but i do swoon over them and i find them to be one of the more precious gifts when i receive them. i think it's because of this that i am so enthralled in creating the perfect invitation.

the first invitation i created as an adult was for my parent's 25th anniversary party. i remember the paper, the font and the typo (!!). i have since always paid special attention to every detail of the invitations that i postmark. i love choosing the paper or the print, picking the theme, a corresponding font and the layout - all of it is the perfect creative process for me. 

recently a friend posted a picture encapsulating her love of the typewriter. it got me thinking about our save-the-dates and wedding invitations and my love of the typewriter (we typed each one of addressee and return envelopes). i journeyed down a path remembering each invitation and how i wanted to document them and share them. below are the favorites (as you'll notice, i like to borrow artwork)

this is the back of the (italy poster) save-the-date postcard, with typed addressee

my 30th birthday was also a vintage poster, that seemed to capture the feeling for the celebration.  i added the text.

the back of the 30th  invitation included the details, map and directions

once we had babies my excitement from invites was satisfied as birthday party invitations needed to be created for the littles. here is e's 1st birthday invitation.

this 2nd birthday party was full of crafty projects...all starting with the nautical themed invites

the 3rd birthday and mila's milestone 1st was another borrowed piece of art (the horse) and the party hat was added

this year we're off to disneyland for a dual celebration and a couple days later evia celebrates at home with her besties!

still look at my old business cards with love in my eyes. letter press is one of my absolute favorite "art" on paper. it was also the invites that told me so much about the bride and groom and their concept for the special day. i just recently purged a rather large collection of wedding invitations i had from over the years.

one of my dear friend's rina and i have been putting pen to paper and actually writing each other regularly. remember writing? when it's quiet and you can sit and write without interruption it's pretty satisfying. and oooohhh la la, the paper. those little packages i treasure that i rarely use, get to be pulled out and sweet words line the pages. i love!