Jordan and Joseph chose our Meryl design for their Park City, Utah wedding. With their help of our friends at The Write Image they customized these handdrawn wedding invitations with a palette of prussian blue and gold matte foil and a foil stamped envelope liner for a dose of unexpected fun.
foil stamping: gold matte | digital ink: prussian blue | fonts: keeva + holden | paper: bella smooth cotton white 1-ply | envelope: bella cotton white | foil stamped liner: medium dot pattern in gold matte | The Write Image | customization #34994
With the help of our friends at Write on Sarasota, Cara and Mathew imagined their hand calligraphy wedding invitations in black letterpress and silver matte foil. Debi Zeinert’s hand calligraphy highlighted their names and a typographic monogram was used as the focal point of the custom envelope liner. Our elegant garden pattern was foil stamped in silver matte on the back of the invitation for an unexpected display of floral elegance.
letterpress ink: black | foil stamping: silver matte | font: poetica | hand calligraphy: copperplate | paper: bella smooth cotton white 1-ply + 2-ply | envelope: bella cotton | liner: custom pearse pattern in black | Write on Sarasota | customization #34282
This modern and minimal rose gold holiday card was inspired by the bold typography of our Hemsworth design. A cool black and white photo provides the perfect backdrop for the foil accents in this year’s most fashionable metallic color.
We’re offering free envelope addressing along with complimentary rush service on all custom holiday orders placed by December 12, 2016. Browse our collection of holiday cards to get started today!
ornaments | ornaments | ornaments
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The hand-drawn mountains of our Sierra design are paired with winter’s quintessential palette of silver and blue to set the tone for this sweet winter greeting.
We’re offering free envelope addressing along with complimentary rush service on all custom holiday orders placed by December 12, 2016. Browse our collection of holiday cards to get started today!
mittens | couple
This month, we’re featuring Ian Koenig as our December Designer of the Month. Take advantage of 10% savings on any design in Ian’s collection this month – and combine this offer with our other current promotions for added savings! Ian’s designs are bold and typographic – we love the way his Avery letterpress wedding invitations look reimagined as custom holiday cards (the design works also well for Bat Mitzvah invitations!), and Clarus makes a great holiday card, too.
There’s still plenty of time to take advantage of our current custom holiday promotion (which includes complimentary rush service + free digital envelope addressing when you order by December 12!), so take a look at some of Ian’s holiday cards or browse his entire collection for inspiration. Our Designer of the Month promotion can also be used on any custom invitation order, calling cards, social stationery, birth announcements, or anything else you can dream up. Be in touch if you have questions!
Avery (right) by Ian Koenig, pictured with our Good Show Hanukkah cards by Patricia Mumau.
Custom Clarus holiday cards in a festive red and green check pattern.
Michelle and Jeff chose these New York cityscape wedding invitations to invite guests to their wedding at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York City. Our friends at Lion in the Sun helped them customize our Charmed New York design with copper foil, charcoal letterpress and an ultra modern font to highlight their names. Their custom belly band was stylish and functional, featuring the couples duogram in copper foil.
letterpress ink: charcoal | foil stamping: copper shine | fonts: gotham+ sansa | paper: bella cotton white 1-ply + 2-ply | foil edging: copper shine | envelope: bella cotton white | liner: custom map pattern in charcoal | Lion in the Sun | customization #31844
Our friends at Note Bene helped customize our Brewer design for invitations to celebrate Chuck’s 65th birthday. These travel inspired map birthday invitations featured our vintage world map pattern printed in navy digital ink with text in copper shine foil.
foil stamping: copper shine | digital ink: navy | paper: bella smooth cotton ivory 1-ply | envelope: bella cotton ivory | liner: classic color pattern in navy | Note Bene | customization #34554
Today we’re excited to share a guest post from a real Bella Figura bride: Renee Walsh, founder of Wiithyu! Wiithyu is a great new service designed to make wedding planning fun and easy, with the option to make it collaborative, too (invite your mom, your bridal party, and anyone else who’s helping plan your big day!). Manage wedding checklists, customize wedding templates and collaborate and plan with your whole wedding party. Since Renee is an expert when it comes to making the wedding planning process fun, easy, and straightforward, we’ll let her take it away with some planning advice for ordering your wedding invitations!
Selecting your wedding invitations is one of the tasks you’ll have the most fun with while planning your wedding! Like your wedding, it too is also a multi-step process requiring a good bit of organization and coordination. Here are our tips to help you prepare and enjoy everything from designing your invitation all the way to mailing them.
Do your research: Before you call your invitation specialist, do some research to help figure out what kind of invitations you want and the general style you’re going for. Look at photos, order samples, and narrow down to your favorite choices – we like to recommend picking your top 3. This will help direct the conversation you have when speaking with your stationer to create your perfect invitation.
Ask away: Not sure what kind of envelope linings are available? The difference between paper weights or inks? Your printer will, and they’re more than happy to answer any and all of your questions. Your invitation is the first glimpse your guests will have of your big day, so make sure you’re asking what you need to to get what you want.
Be prepared: We recommend finalizing your guest list at least 2 weeks before you go to your printer – this way, you won’t have to pay for additions after your order is complete, or for excess invitations that won’t be used. If you’re having your envelopes digitally addressed, make sure you have full names, titles and complete mailing addresses, and use the template provided to you to save time. If you plan to work with a calligrapher for your envelope addressing, make sure you book that service in advance, and find out how the calligrapher needs your list formatted.
Review & repeat: “Checking it twice” is not just for Santa Claus. Make sure to review and proof every single piece in your order, and do it more than once. Final approval is always your responsibility, so once you say OK, it means OK.
Measure twice, mail once: Take a fully assembled invitation set to the post office and have it weighed before purchasing your postage – you’d be surprised where a few cents can creep up. Once you know the measurements and the weight of your invitations, you can select the appropriate postage and even customize it!
https://youtu.be/tZyJQf7Imm0
Assembly required: Assembling your invitations is the most fun DIY project during planning. A well-organized and systematic approach is best. Your invitations will be labeled and packaged by piece. Set up a clean work station and take your time. This is a great opportunity to check your guest list with the guest envelopes to make sure everyone and everything is accounted for. If you’re short on time and it’s in your budget, you can take advantage of assembly services – Bella Figura offers this service, as do many stationery boutiques!
Ship shape :Take your invitations to the post office and wait in line – it’s worth it, we promise. It’s better to have a postmaster take your invitations directly to be hand canceled than to leave your precious pieces in one of the drop-off bins. This ensures that every piece of mail is submitted at the same time and doesn’t get crimped or damaged.
Have fun & enjoy: Don’t forget to have an invitation addressed to you and yours. It’s so much fun receiving meaningful mail and to get your own wedding invitation is just as exciting. Receiving all of your reply cards is like getting a present every day – you’re going to love getting them and saving them as keepsakes to look back on.
Many thanks to Renee for these helpful tips! Be sure to check out Wiithyu for more planning inspiration!
The candy stripe pattern on Harbor Beach and a contemporary palette of pink and green inspired this festive holiday card that features a mix of patterns and classic holiday motifs.
We’re offering free envelope addressing along with complimentary rush service on all custom holiday orders placed by December 12, 2016. Browse our collection of holiday cards to get started today!
straws | stockings + tree | pillows
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We used our Birch design as inspiration when designing these letterpress Bar Mitzvah invitations for Max and his family. Max’s party was held under the stars at The Tropical Forest Conservatory at Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh. An earthy color palette and classically modern typography kept the overall look neutral and sophisticated.
letterpress inks: olive + antique gold | fonts: naive inline diagonal + avant garde + miss le gates | paper: bella cotton white 1-ply | envelope: bella cotton white | liner: natural woodgrain pattern in olive | customization #34862
A non-traditional color palette is paired with a modern layout and Tristan‘s antique botanicals on this floral holiday card inspiration.
We’re offering free envelope addressing along with complimentary rush service on all custom holiday orders placed by December 12, 2016. Browse our collection of holiday cards to get started today!
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We were deeply saddened to learn that calligrapher Kelle McCarter passed away last week. Kelle has worked with Bella Figura as a designer and calligrapher for years, and also developed two exclusive calligraphy fonts for our sister company, Smock. Kelle’s husband Shawn asked us to share her obituary with our community – Kelle was always so eager to learn about others, but rarely talked about herself. We hope those of you who are grieving Kelle’s loss along with us appreciate this glimpse inside her life.
On November 13, 2016 our world lost a beautiful and courageous spirit in Kelle Anne McCarter at the age of 51. She is survived by her husband, Shawn Wesley McCarter of Castle Rock, Colorado, and her parents Jerry Don and Judith Anne Mobley of Dewey, Arizona. She is also survived by Hallie Loy McCarter, Jamie and Margie McCarter and their family of Midland, TX and Kevin McCarter of Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay – all who embraced her as their own. Kelle was born March 2, 1965 in Chicopee, Massachusetts and moved to Midland from Clovis, New Mexico in 1972. She won the Women’s West Texas golf tournament twice during her teens, a feat reserved to only a couple of future LPGA stars. Kelle graduated from Midland High School in 1983 and then attended New Mexico State on a golf scholarship where she was an All-American Scholar and she received her BA and MBA.
After university, Kelle went to work with her father and the PGA Tour to redesign the TPC golf course in Cromwell, Connecticut. With the completion of the redesign, Kelle and her father embarked on a 15 year project to develop the Sand Creek Country Club community and Coffee Creek Center in Chesterton, Indiana west of Chicago. The sustainable development of the Coffee Creek Center and restoration of Coffee Creek earned the honor of being selected as one of the top 24 developments in the world. During this time, Kelle was on the board of the Chicago Golf Association and was director of the Northern Amateur Golf Tournament which has produced several PGA tour players.
At her twentieth reunion at Midland High School, she reconnected with Shawn McCarter and they were married in September 2006 at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Friends and strangers alike observed the absolute devotion and love that Kelle and Shawn shared for each other. They embodied the idea of soul mates so many long for.
When Kelle moved to Denver, she began pursuing her other life-long interests of graphic design, the written word, designing paper goods, and calligraphy. She was an invitation designer and calligrapher for Bella Figura Letterpress and Crane Paper Company, and her work has been profiled in Martha Stewart Weddings magazine, People magazine, Inside Weddings, Brides magazine and Luxe interiors + design. She was a lifestyle contributor for REstyleSOURCE – a beautiful online design site in collaboration with Where Women Create magazine, supporting local shops and artists across the country. Kelle also published an art magazine called Paperswell: modern design ideas for paper goods and weddings to raise funds for the Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies.
Kelle was truly a renaissance woman, reveling in the outdoors, competing on the golf course, creating opportunities for others, starting businesses, helping others, supporting women-owned businesses, and collaborating with and supporting other artists in their pursuits. As a friend has stated so appropriately, “Heaven just became much prettier…I can’t wait to see what she does with the place.” Kelle was extremely passionate and caring for her “girls”, two rescued golden retrievers, and her deep friendships from childhood until now. She was a graceful, gracious, selfless and elegant soul as well as a true southern belle with a sharp wit, the vocabulary to match it, and a wonderful sense of humor.
Kelle’s ashes will be spread at their Colorado ranch in a small ceremony with family. If you care to share your comments about how Kelle touched your life, please use the hashtag #rememberingkelle on Instagram, or visit the MHS 83 Facebook page to join the hundreds of people in her wonderful circle.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making donations to the Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies or your local First Tee Golf Program.
