Aylee Shares

If you're a DIY bride, then you may be interested in the resources provide by a very talented lady named Aylee. Her Aylee Designs website provides ideas for DIY projects and very detailed instructions, templates, and supply lists to create them. These projects include wedding invitations, program fans, save-the-dates, and more.

She freely offers the information to everyone, and if for some reason, you just don't have the time or desire to DIY, you can engage Aylee to create the project for you. She also does custom monograms. FI and I are using her fan program template as a guideline to create our own.

I recently made a prototype, and it looks great so far. As for the wedding monograms, I love them, but I just wasn't interested in having someone else decorate my name and charge me for it. I started thinking about how I can create my own wedding monograms. First, I tried using PowerPoint, but it wasn't quite right. Then, I used Microsoft Publisher, which worked out perfectly. FI and I are really pleased with our new monogrammed labels. You can truly customize your print project, with the graphics, fonts, and designs you like. You can even save them as commercial print quality JPEG files. These are just of few of the monograms we've made, slightly modified of course.

Don't have the software or don't want to spend alot on it? You can download a free 60-day trial of Microsoft Publisher 2007 from office.microsoft.com!

How Crafty Are You, Part II

All right, so apparently I am obsessed with letterpress printing.

But are these gift cards from Sycamore Street Press not adorable? 

 

These birch bark silver rings from Twigs and Heather would make great wedding bands, especially for men.  They're simple but not boring.  One of the artists told me her husband wears his as a wedding ring!

Everything at Perch Design is charming, but I thought these shake-a-leg salt and pepper shakers were especially great.

I loved these guys.  Why go to Hallmark or Party Town to get your confetti when you can get it handmade to any color, shape, or specification?  The nice folks at Confetti System will do it all for you--they also do hats, lanterns, garlands, or whatever you need for a party.  Plus, it sounds very scientific and technical, doesn't it?  "I had everything taken care of for me by Confetti System."  People will know you mean business.

How Crafty Are You?

I have a weakness for flea markets and craft fairs anyway, but now that I have a wedding to plan for, it's twice as much fun to go.  The Renegade Craft Fair is being held this weekend in Brooklyn, NY (if you're in the neighborhood on Sunday, June 15, it's at the McCarren Park Pool) and it was so much fun to see the cool stuff that people had made.  I am more a craft appreciator than a craftswoman myself, but I love supporting local artisans.  How much cooler is it to have someone who lives down the street from you make your invitations as opposed to having them made in some nameless factory somewhere?

I was so excited to see the booth of one of my favorite Etsy sellers, Pistachio Press.  Rachael Hetzel does beautiful letterpress invitations.  I love the red and white cards here.

I thought these cards from Bow and Arrow were lovely.  I love how Julie's going against the minimalist trend in a really stylish way.  And she does custom printing.  More letterpress to drool over!

I'll have more of my adventures at the craft fair coming in Part II!