New Songbirdie: Erica Thesenvitz
I'm so excited to announce that my dear friend Erica has officially joined the Songbird Family! Fellow new mom to the adorable Baby Jack will help me run the business side so I can focus on the fun, creative part and take on more fabulous clients!
Erica and I went to only the best school ever together, USC (Fight On!), but didn't meet until post-graduation while we were both doing the dreaded long distance thing with our college sweethearts and now-hubbies, who rowed together on the Trojan Crew team. She is a very successful PR and Communications Pro and will be using her stellar business skills to help make Songbird even more awesome and make sure everyone we work with has a great experience!
As a way of introduction, I thought it would be fun to share photos from her special wedding day almost 2 years ago! I worked super closely with her to design everything for her wedding from the save the dates and invitation suite to custom guestbook and signs!
Enjoy!
xoxo,
Rosie
We collaborated on fun special touches for her save the dates and invites like custom stickers, map and sparkly envelope liners!
Such a cute set up that her maid of honor put together! Champagne is a key part of the day-of morning pampering! Erica and I got these beautiful sparkly boxes from Paper Source for her bridesmaid gifts and I custom made the gift tags.
How gorgeous are these robes from Plum Pretty Sugar?! LOVE!
Custom programs and welcome sign made by yours truly :)
The lovely bride and groom!
Super fun cocktail hour menus for the bar!
Loved how the custom, hand lettered wood sign turned out! And as you can see, Mr. Architect was having a lot of fun!
All the pretty little details! Menu, card box, escort cards and calligraphy by moi! We used this beautiful print from RIFLE PAPER Co. as an accent across her invites and decor.
Who can resist cupcakes and a candy bar?! That's me helping set up! I also made all of the signs and labels for the table along with the favor bags.
Creative, and fun, guestbook! They had polaroid cameras out for guests to take a picture and leave a note in the custom book that I made for them!
Dancing the night away!
And they lived happily ever after <3
Perfectly Styled: Intimate Garden Shoot
Happy Wedding Wednesday! Today I'm so excited to show you this amazing video put together by Jennavieve Films. It captures a beautifully inspired intimate garden wedding styled shoot that I was so lucky to be a part of! This team of wedding vendors... so much talent!! Go ahead and watch... over and over and over and over!
Vendors:
Planner Extraordinnaire: Megan Holman
Photographer: Rachel Birkhofer Photography
rachelbirkhofer.co
Florals: Anna Gallup // Grace & Blooms
graceandblooms.com
Dress: Calla Bridal
callabridal.com
HMUA: Hannah Bush // Urbanista Weddings
urbanistaweddings.com
Cake/desserts: Elizabeth Rayborn // Stone Layne
stonelayne.com
Jewelery: Susie Saltzman
susiesaltzman.com
Invitation suite/calligraphy: Rosie Powell // Songbird Paperie
songbirdpaperie.com
Models: Sanya Nijjar & Austin Weige
Rentals: Vintage Ambiance
vintageambiance.com
Film: Jenna Tormamen // Jennavieve Films
jennavievefilms.com
xoxo,
Rosie
Mirror, Mirror, in the Reception Hall!
Signs can be so helpful and so much FUN for a wedding! I've done all sorts of signs written on all sorts of mediums (hello, 5-foot by 4-foot stained wooden board!), and today I'm sharing with you a set of signs done on mirrors sourced by the bride herself!
I've been doing these more and more, and seating charts are my jam! At first they seemed a little intimidating (read: giant piece of wood mentioned earlier), but as I've been on my fourth year of the Seattle wedding industry, I've learned a few tricks that has made this a breeze! First of all, despite rumors, I am not a robot with insanely perfect handwriting -- okay, I'm a human with insanely perfect handwriting MOST of the time. I can write pretty straight, but to err is human, so I like to use washi tape and baker's twine to give me a reference point as I write out 100-200 names!
Finished!
Finished product! It's always hard taking pictures of mirrors -- I tried to get as little as possible in the shot, but you can still see a light fixture and some lovely architecture prints!
In addition to the seating chart, the bride also had three smaller signs that she placed on the bar and at her favor table! Other than being useful, signs can be SO much fun and help your guests out by letting them know your #hashtag or that it's okay to dance because alcohol. ;o)
Happy wedding season, everyone! Look for more signage on my Instagram feed!
xoxo,
Rosie
Seattle Bride Magazine Best Of 2016 Top 3 Finalist!
Exciting news!!! Today Seattle Bride Magazine announced their Best of 2016 Finalists (top 3 in each category) and Songbird Paperie is a finalist in the Invitation Design category! This news sure brightened up my day, especially since I'm feeling under the weather today!
The two finalists with me in the group are amazing stationers that I am so so honored to be next to!
Big big thanks to all the wonderful brides and grooms, who have hired Songbird Paperie to design the invitations for one of the most special events of their lives, and to all the friends, family, wedding planners, and wonderful wedding vendors who have referred Songbird Paperie to their clients, friends, and family members.
Winners will be announced at a super fun party later this year and will be featured in the fall/winter 2016 Seattle Bride Magazine issue! Hooray! Now back to resting in bed with my favorite little 8 month old baby boy. :o)
xoxo,
Rosie
10 Things I Can't Design Without
Note: I had originally desired to post this blog on Thursday, March 12, but I had a HUGE multiple project deadline that captured my attention for the most part of the day. Luckily, I'm into grace, so no biggie! Here it is!
There are some things in life you just can't simply do without. You know - food, air, water, ice cream... just me? Okay. Well, there are some things I simply cannot do without when it comes to designing. It's another question I get like the "How did you get here?" infamous question! This question is "How do you do what you do?" Well, my dears, let me tell you!
1. My Laptop
My laptop is my baby, my everything, my precious (but not in that creepy LOTR Gollum way)! It's how I design. So, that makes it numero uno in my book!
2. Adobe Creative Cloud
Other than #1, I cannot do a single thing without the Adobe Creative Cloud. Seriously. If something were to happen with it, I wouldn't be able to do anything for my lovely clients. Actually -- the only thing I would be able to do is calligraphy, BUT there go my nifty digital proofs! The Creative Cloud is amaaaaaazing and everyone should learn how to use it!
3. My Favorite Calligraphy Pen
I'd say I have a favorite nib too, but you just need different nibs for different styles, so I'm not going name favorites. But, I DO have a favorite calligraphy pen holder thing! She's a beaut. Her name is Molly. I just came up with that right now! I got her from a letterpress shop in Portland called Oblation Papers & Press last spring when Mr. Architect and I vacationed for our wedding anniversary! She's purdy and a light wooden color and she fits perfectly into my miniature hand. (My hands look tiny I think.)
4. Le Pens
I'm not going to drag a nib and a bottle of ink in my purse everywhere I go, so the next best thing is a good, quality, inky, pigmenty, modern and slim pen! I use it for all my note-taking and even some sketching if I need color to differentiate between stuff. Le Pens are the best, and they come in every color you'll ever need! Just don't leave them uncapped in your expensive designer purse... you'll regret it. *Takes a moment of silence for the passing of a beautiful purse named Maple*
5. My Tools!
I had to lump these little dudes in one number because they're just too numerous to count for separate things! Plus, I always use them together. They are my #2 X-Acto knife (it actually belonged to my husband when he was in architecture school), my 12 inch straight edge (also my husband's), my pink cutting mat (all mine!), and my folding bone. These guys are ESSENTIAL to my craft.
6. A Clean, Neat, Organized, and Dust-Free Work Space
I know OCD is a real thing, and one of these days it'd be interesting to see if there's an inkling in me, but I cannot get a Single. Thing. Done. if my desk is not in somewhat of an order. It's important to me that when I design, I have a clean slate -- not only in my sketchbook and notebook, but also in my mind and on my desk. I also can't sleep if I leave my desk in a mess (it currently resides in the bedroom), either. It's like trying to drive 60 MPH when everyone is going 20 MPH on the freeway. You just can't!
7. My Songbird Aqua Notebook, Client Binder, and Sketchbook
Ahhh, the trifecta of books. I'm so picky about paper (haha, duh), and I nailed the prettiest, smoothest, and most travel-friendly notebook for my 2015 client notes. It's great AND refillable! In fact, let me take you to it here. It comes in gold, too! My client binder is my home base -- I have official notes and details on all my clients' needs and I refer to this every day. Lastly, my sketchbook is where I get out those first designs out from my head and onto the paper. You can't do *everything* digitally!
8. Noise Distraction
I'm generally a keep-to-herself kind of girl (I used to be shy... I might still be a little shy... just a bit!), so I really enjoy working from home in my little pseudo studio. But on the occasion, I do like to have some sort of noise distraction in the background to keep me from starting into my laptop and external monitor screens for hours on end! Usually, the noise is either some tunes on Spotify (the 90 Sweet 90s Hits are great! As are my husband's playlists!), or some show on Netflix or Amazon Prime (i.e., Gilmore Girls right now!)
9. Four Calendars
Okay, okay, this one is a silly one. But I just looked around my space and saw that I indeed look at four calendars every day! When designing, I take into consideration so many things, and one of them is time -- how much time do I have? What am I doing that day? What time of year is this design for? So it makes the list! The first calendar is a giant calendar on my wall that I use for quick reference writing down big events, client weddings and industry events. The second is a year-at-a-glance calendar (thanks, Emily Ley!), the third is my Emily Ley Simplified Planner (she's amazing), and lastly is my Google calendar. FUN!
10. Mr. Architect
Mr. Architect (my husband) shouldn't be last on this list as he IS the most important thing in my life when it comes to design and every other part of my life! He's my inspiration, he's my problem solver, he's my level head, he's my fix-it guy, he's my silly, he's my support, he's my comfort, he's my cheerleader, he's my smartie, and he's my love. I couldn't be here without him!
So that's it, boys and girls! 10 Things I Cannot Design Without! What are sort of the things you'd be lost without for your profession or passion?
Until next time!
xoxo,
Rosie
PS: Don't forget my first ever giveaway! Details here: www.songbirdpaperie.com/blog/2015/3/11/giveaway-wednesday