IMPRIMO'S TOP 5

Do you remember being in middle school and writing down your list of the top 5 best looking studs in your class? This post is kinda like that, but not really.

I’m breaking down my first full year of business… top 5 style.

TOP 5 … FAVORITES

This is going to sound super cliché, but I've loved every project I've done in their own unique ways, so I can’t really choose 5 individual projects as my favorite. BUT I CAN break down my favorites in a more detail specific way…

1. Loved the “KN” diamond design I did for Kate & Nate’s Chincoteague Island, Virginia wedding. I’d secretly love to blow it up, foil it, and hang it on their wall if they’d let me. They own a taco truck on Chincoteague Island, follow them on Instagram NOW @picotaqueria

2. Loved the colors of Jackie Fawcett’s invites. I love bright, vibrant colors so I was all about it.

3. LOVED the Buccos/Pirates designs I did for @lovetherack. It’s kinda surreal to see your work blown up on a shirt, especially when you see random strangers wearing it.

4. Still love my Hallowedding design for my own wedding. Just because it’s a wedding doesn’t mean everything needs to be so damn serious. Have a drink, CHILL OUT.

5. Made a design for a guy’s shirt. Can’t even contain my excitement about it… stay tuned!

TOP 5 … PIECES OF ADVICE FOR BRIDES

1. Right now I’m currently working on 5 projects for 5 different weddings. Brides: If you’re looking for custom work, email me the MOMENT you get engaged. Not 8 weeks before your big day. Y’all are going to give me ulcers.

2. Do the wax seal stamp, too freaking cool… small details, folks!

3. Take advantage of the thank you card option. Trust me.

4. You’re wedding invitations will be beautiful, scouts honor. The first thing your guests will see is the exterior envelope. Therefore, be mindful of your postage selection. You don’t need to pay an arm and a leg to have personalized postage stamps, but please, for the love of god, don’t slap an American flag stamp on your envelope UNLESS of course, your theme is 4th of July. (NOTE: this has never happened, but the thought alone crushes my soul).

5. REVIEW, EDIT, CHECK, DOUBLE CHECK, and TRIPLE CHECK any proof I send you. I’m not perfect nor will I ever claim to be. Look everything over before you give me the green light to print.

TOP 5 … LESSONS LEARNED

1. TRUST NOONE. Keep all of your ideas to yourself, no matter your excitement to share… y’all wouldn’t even believe me if I told you.

2. When you think you have a break in action, don’t relax, ALWAYS work ahead.

3. There is no “time off.” I work a full-time job from 8-5 and then I go home and work on IMPRIMO from 6-10. But when you want something bad enough, you’ll do what it takes.

4.  I might not agree with an edit that I client makes, and that frustration may keep me awake at night. But the client always wins, go to sleep.

5. Teaching soldiers was a true love of mine, and I never thought I’d be able to replace that experience. IMPRIMO has been a close second.

TOP 5 … PROJECTS I’D LIKE TO WORK ON

1. Do I have any pregnant friends?! I’d love to do a TOP SECRET baby announcement!

2. Desert wedding, FO SHO!

3. I’d love to do a real retro anniversary invitation!

4. I like bold selections. I’d love to do a sangria or emerald colored suite.

5. Tropical wedding, FO SHO AGAIN!

TOP 5 … GOALS FOR THE NEXT YEAR

1. GO FULL-TIME!

2. Buy a fancy Mac Desktop

3. Buy a MASSIVE desk so my dining room table no longer collects my droppings.

4. Buy another printer.

5. Always improve and progress. Keep moving forward, ya never know who might take notice!

LOTS of really cool projects to wrap up this week, stay tuned friends!

Checkin' UP & Checkin' IN

Haven't checked in with y'all in a minute. I've quickly come to realize that when you're a one woman show working in the wedding industry, blogging comes secondary to most obligations. And I say y'all because once you've lived in the Midwest, you're allowed to say y'all. (WHAT UP, MANHATTAN, KS!).

Speaking of Kansas, this is Aggieville. Located approximately one block from our old apartment, Aggieville is a much cleaner and classier version of South Side, Pittsburgh. Never once have a seen a nasty weave, a random body part, or someone's dignity left on the sidewalk the morning following a long night of partying... Well, maybe I have, but I digress...

Manhattan, Kansas is a small business heaven, home of the Wildcats, a hotbed for creativity, and quite possibly where my admiration for entrepreneurship was unknowingly legitimized. If you have an inner fat kid or are a creative like myself, check out @varsitydonuts, @bourbonandbaker, and @acmegift on Instagram. You will not be disappointed!

Leaving Kansas was certainly bittersweet. I surprisingly grew to love Kansas, I loved my job teaching soldiers on post, I LOVED the food (chicken and waffles to the FACE), I loved the nightlife and our fellow military friends, but of course Jared and I both looked forward to seeing our families back in the 'Burgh.

Yet when I moved home, I struggled finding employment. And soon enough, I became irate with my return home and took up the random task of creating my sister's wedding invitations to try and keep myself from snatching planes from the sky out of frustration.

I never in a million years expected this endeavor to be anything more than a "one time thing." Slowly but surely, however, some of my closest family members and friends began requesting small projects - a birthday party here, a baby shower there. All the while, I continued to look at my projects simply as me just doing a good deed, all the while praying that the universe would notice my kind work and reimburse me with a J-O-B.

And I think it was probably around that point that I must have absolutely blacked out into total oblivion and here I am one year later with 15 brides requesting my services for the 2016 calendar year. It's both entirely terrifying and exciting. I definitely believe that things happen the way they're supposed to, and perhaps I was never meant to find a job here in Pittsburgh. Maybe I was intended to create my own...

In lieu of my absence, here's a couple of projects that I've been able to wrap up...

I have awfully big plans for the KN (AKA Kate & Nate) sketch at the end, stay tuned for more on that!

In more recent news, I've been provided the opportunity to team up with Lisa Bittner at @therackboutique in Murrysville, PA in creating one of a kind, custom graphic tees. Again, it's a venture that I never truly anticipated but I'm excited to look ahead at the possibility of where it may take us both. More black and yellow themes to come...

And there's still so much more to come! I have a fancy New York City military wedding, a beachy chic and modern Chincoteague, Virginia wedding, and a local, hipster duo with a vibrant color scheme.

I'll check back in with Y'ALL soon on updates, until next time!

IMPRIMO GETS PUBLISHED! Maybe...

So a couple of weeks ago, I was approached by a random on Etsy inquiring about my Halloween Wedding Invitation Suite. Said random requested that I send her one of my wedding invitations so that she could use it for a Halloween-styled photo shoot that she would later submit to several big-time online wedding publications. The F?!

I was immediately skeptical. I questioned whether or not someone was trying to steal my originally designed work and I avoided replying for days. That is, until, my newly betrothed encouraged me to holla back.

So I did my research. I dug into Crystal Reyns Photography (previously mentioned random), and she proved to be a well-known and sought after photographer based out of Richmond, Virginia. Now at ease, I was confident in the potential of the opportunity, along with sending my hard work to a near stranger. 

Crystal made it quite clear  of her intention to submit the shoot to the ever-acclaimed "Bitchless Bride," amongst several others. The online bible that is "Bitchless Bride" is hilarious and spot-on. Their mantra? How to plan a wedding without being a bitch. Brilliant. Now if only we can get Chipotle to deliver...

Currently, the shoot has been submitted to the kinds of "Bitchless Bride" and I'm still awaiting word of its consideration. My opinion? The shoot turned out better than I could have ever anticipated and I'm thrilled that I took a shot at it. Moreover, the thought that my work has even been CONSIDERED publish-worthy in only my first year of business is both dumbfounding and exhilarating all in the same moment.

Never in a million years would I have thought that I'd have my own start-up with even the slightest bit of success, but what a journey it has been so far, and I can't wait to see where else it takes me. Check out some of the images from the shoot below!

#Hallowedding

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the mother bleeping wedding planning process. 

I had my eye on Oak Lodge from the very beginning, but selecting a date was quite a different story. I didn't feel a deep, fiery passion to select a date that looked pretty on a piece of paper or a had a nice little ring to it when you said it out loud. Something like "05/05/15." Tell me... How long did you actually have to study the calendar to discover such a date? But I digress...

Unsurprisingly, Oak Lodge had only one date available for the 2015 season: Halloween. I mean of course it was available. Who in their actual right mind would willingly choose to get celebrate life on the bloody (pun intended) "Day of the Dead?" My mother protested, I was sure that our guests would wind up thinking that I was some type of practicing wiccan or gothic, triple six, devil worshiper. But hey, it was an available date. Get over it.

Initially, we tried to steer away from the Halloween theme. Fast forward to October 1, when my brother in-law bought a $200.00 British Army uniform with a matching colonial wig for our mandatory costume party. Don't believe me?

SEEN ABOVE: REDCOAT WANKER

When it came time to designing my invitation suite, I wanted to suggest Hallow's Eve without digging myself knee deep into an orange, green, and purple, 5th grade Halloween parade, sugar-coated sh*t show. I kept telling my vendor's that I wanted to be "Vampire Chic," a term that I would later believe I coined myself. Hysterical in retrospect.

In creating the design, I really began to buy into the theme, and selecting Halloween as a wedding date became something to be excited about, rather than feared. It was different, unique, it was off the path of what was expected, and it was fun. Weddings don't have to be so serious. And anyone who knows me, also knows that I hate when things are serious.

So I was subtle about my inclusion of Halloween. I used black, laced paper for liners, I chose fonts that were dark and weathered, I included suggestive wording like, "I'll be there for the boos," and I sealed the envelope shut with a waxed, black spiderweb seal.

I sent the invitations out, I posted them on Etsy for other people crazy enough to dare the Halloween theme, and I didn't think twice about it. 

About a week went by... I had several views on my listing, but I knew Halloween brides would be a long shot... UNTILLL I was contacted by a photographer in Virginia wanting to FEATURE my invitation suite for a Halloween-styled shoot that she would later submit to several big-time wedding blogs. WHAT?! As a newbie to the stationery & design industry, I wasn't really sure what that meant, and I was especially concerned that someone was trying to steal my work. But, in the same way that I selected Halloween as a wedding date, I just went for it. You live and you learn, right?

Her shoot turned out better than I ever could have anticipated and I'm so thankful that I took a chance on it (more on this later). Moreover, I'm glad that I designed my invitation suite and stayed true to myself in the process. In doing so, my #Hallowedding look ended up being much more representative of myself, Jared, and our relationship than I ever thought was possible. 

That being said, to those brides looking and considering their options for their wedding stationery needs: Fly your freak flag. Don't be a basic. Be yourself. That's the only way you'll walk away happy with the end product. #WiccanBrideOut.

Belle & Whistles

Haven't checked in in a while, probably because I've been busy as {expletive}! 

Between moving home from Kansas, starting a business, buying and renovating a house, and getting married at the end of the month, I've been quite busy to say the very least. In midst of all of the confusion, I've been trying to fulfill as many orders as I can, and as quickly as I can while still keeping all of my other obligations in tact (I will cry actual tears of joy when my wedding is over, but I digress). Several requests I've had to decline, which is something that I'm both grateful and disappointed to say. Disappointed because I hate to turn business away, especially as a new business owner, but I'm much more grateful because I've been fortunate enough to visualize this "maybe it will work" hobby, to a possible jobby. 

Long story short, during my absence I've created: Customized first birthday invitations, personalized wall decor, my own Halloween-inspired wedding invitation suite (more on that later), and several business logos, including my own.

I was contacted by Nikki Marks, a fellow Norwin Knight, with requests of a logo facelift for her up and coming 'Belle & Whistles.' Belle & Whistles is geared toward the sports-loving universe. It's an outlet to share sporting events, ideas, news, and banter. But more importantly, Belle & Whistles is an outlet to prove that girls love sports too. As a total Yinzer-loving, female sports fan myself, I was undoubtedly on board.

Nikki wanted something clean and simple, with a delicate balance of both masculine and feminine undertones. Working alongside Nikki, we brainstormed, designed, created, and tweaked the design to the final look as seen below. 

Nikki is a small business owner who understands the highs and lows of being a small fish in a big pond, and supports other small businesses like myself for that reason.  Her sports commentary is hilarious, her ideas for the female sports fans are spot-on, and her Etsy Store (BelleAndWhistlesCO), is currently on fire. Stay tuned for her warm weather gear and options for MEN coming this week!

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Katie's Charleston, SC Charmer

A couple of weeks back, I dropped my first album. JK. What I really mean, is that I started my own business under the name IMPRIMO, which is Latin for "to imprint and impress."

In announcing this new business venture, I shared my first work "Hippie Chic at the Beach" through every social media forum possible, and encouraged (aka paid off with ice cream) my family and friends to do the same. Luckily enough, I was able to connect with bride-to-be Katie Kilpatrick with the request of a wedding program.

Katie planned to host her Charleston, SC ceremony outdoors at the B-E-A-UTIFUL Magnolia Plantation & Gardens. Super chic and romantic - I pictured various "The Notebook" scenes as I browsed the site's images. Ryan Gosling=STUD.

Katie was hopeful for the wedding program fan idea, but unsure if it was something that could be fully executed. She sent me several images of sources of inspiration, many of which of were blush pink and gold, very intricately detailed and featuring quaint and classic script.

In completing this project (along with "Hippie Chic at the Beach"), my first order of business is to take into consideration a. Who is the my client? What is his/her personality? and b. What is the event? What vision do they hold for said event? Katie's requests: blush pink, gold, classic, soft, romantic. I took Katie's vision and searched for sources of inspiration.

This image caught my attention immediately - I loved the softness of it, and I thought it would fit seamlessly with the whole southern Plantation wedding thing. After having sent Katie the initial proof, she was hesitant, she wanted something a little more in tune with her color scheme so I went back to the drawing board and found this pretty ol' thing.

Katie loved it, as did I. From there it was all manipulating the image, adding effects, matching Katie, the event, the setting, with different texts and hand-drawn details.

It's all about the editing process - I guess you have to be especially OCD and neurotic like myself to handle the fine details of this type of thing. I sent Katie and her sister Sarah several proofs until they were entirely satisfied and gave me the go ahead with production.

With a lot of work in between, "Katie's Charleston, SC Charmer" came out looking like the beaut that I always thought she'd be.

Oh, and one more...

While the #BLING IS NOT INCLUDED, everything you see here is originally designed and handcrafted by me. My goal in my design and execution is to always be thoughtful of you, your vision, and the end product. I like to think that I achieved in reflecting Katie's vision, and I hope she thinks so too!