fourthday design

The Bridal Show

2012-01-15T22:12:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday we participated in the Bridal Extravaganza put on by our friends at The Bride and Groom at the Grand America Hotel It was great meeting with a new brides and talking over the details of their wedding.

I thought I would write a blog post that answers some of the variety of questions we received yesterday at the show.

What do you have to offer that is different?

In my opinion, your wedding invites should set the tone for your event. Our clients are ones who are looking for that very thing. They want their guests, when they open their invitation to have a sense of who they are as a couple and the kind of event they will be hosting. Whether you are getting married on a mountain or on the beaches of Hawaii, your invitation is the first taste your friends and family will have of your wedding. We have a wide variety of preset designs and also enjoy working with the clients who want a custom masterpiece.

What is letterpress printing?
Letterpress printing is an elegant and stylish printing technique that has been around for hundreds of years. It involves printing the invite design simultaneously while it debosses the image into thick, soft paper. Each invite is printed one at a time and each color is run one at a time. Letterpress work is unmatched in terms of quality and feel. It gives a crispness and visual definition to the final process. Because it is so labor intensive, letterpress is much higher in cost than traditional offset printing.

What is digital printing?
Digital printing is a common printing technique in which in colors can be run at once. Invites are run large format or high volume laser or inkjet printers The print is flat to the touch and invites can be printed quickly in large quantities. It is a great alternative for clients who love great design but don't have the budget for letterpress.

What are your prices?
We have a variety of invitation sets to fit many different clients. Depending on your budget, you may opt for our custom letterpress collection which starts at $1500 per set or we also have our digital collection that starts around $750 a set.

How much time do you need to order and print?
Proper ettiquette suggests you should mail your invites 3-5 weeks in advance. For letterpress jobs we recommend 1 month for design and 2 weeks for print. For digital jobs we recommend 2 weeks for design and 1 week for print.

We look forward to speaking with you regarding your invite needs. For questions regarding consults and pricing, please email here

ashley letterpress

kari letterpress

nichole letterpress

avery digital

ava digital

lucille digital

2011-12-26T22:35:00.000-08:00

I love writing and receiving thank you notes. Sometimes I think it is a lost art form. I purchased the note cards and envelopes from my favorite place Paper Source.
I decided to design and print these custom envelope liners along with custom labels to add a special touch.

all wrapped up

2011-12-01T13:35:00.001-08:00

December is finally here! And I couldn't be more excited. One of the best parts of the holiday season is picking out the wrapping paper. PaperSource is overflowing with to-die for prints. I can hardly choose between them, they are all so fabulous. Here are a few of my favorites:

I absolutely love the gnomes they came out with this year. They even have little kits to make gnome ornaments. Adorable:

I have always been a sucker for birds and woodgrain prints. Put the two together, and I am smitten:

I think these two would be so killer with some bright green velvet ribbon:

I adore the use of the bird sillouette against the realistic spruce branches on this one:

baby announcement: the twins

2011-11-15T12:48:00.001-08:00

When Liz and BJ found out they were expecting twin boys, they couldn't have been happier. Liz is one of my closest friends, and so I hosted a baby shower for her at my home. She loved the invitations for the shower so much, she asked me to just modify them for her announcements as well.

We invited our closest group of girl friends to help celebrate the long awaited and upcoming arrival of Liz's little men. Even though this group of girls get together quite often, I still wanted to doll the place up a bit for the occasion. For decor, I simply hung several streamers from the ceiling to help center in the table where we would be eating dinner and spending most the evening. I folded origami birds for each place setting and also hung a few from the streamed ceiling. With lots of candles and kermit mums, it was a simple, but a cute set up.

Yesterday, Liz and BJ just had a new baby girl, Lauren Emily. She is pure heaven, and I'm already brainstorming new ideas for her upcoming announcement. Stay tuned.

The Shower Invitation

The Baby Announcement

The Shower

baby announcements: lilybelle

2011-11-13T10:57:00.001-08:00

The inspiration behind Lilybelle's announcement card came from artwork that was hanging in her nursery room. Her mom wanted to frame the announcement next to these pre-existing art pieces, so we thought a large "L" alphabet card would be a nice addition.

We used a larger replication of the pattern from the L to be the envelope liner. We loved the attention to detail Lilybelle's mother gave the announcement, by using a matching hair flower in the photo, white photo tabs to hold the picture on the back, and a butterfly stamp in similar colors to help tie everything together as a whole. The announcement was mailed out in the papaya envelopes.

We think the announcement and miss Lilybelle couldn't be any cuter.

Inspiration

2011-11-04T21:43:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about writing for our design blog is discovering content and finding inspiration through a variety of sources to share with our readers. There are so many great blogs out there and I thought it would be fun this week to share 3 of my very favorite as of late.

So here they are....

Oh Happy Day is a a recent discovery of mine that Emily shared with me. It is run by a party planner and letterpress printer from San Francisco, California. It is full of great tips, party + wedding ideas, trends, and DYI projects. I love spending time checking out her blog and facebook posts. She also is an inspiration because she decided to move with her family to Paris France for the year. I just love people that aren't afraid to change things up and try something new.

Our Best Bites is a great food and recipe blog, and if you haven't heard of them, maybe you have been living under a rock. Their recipes are so very tasty and simple. It is run by two wives and mothers who just love to cook! They have also written a fabulous cookbook. “Best Bites: Mormon Moms in the Kitchen .”

Their story is fun & inspiring and can be read here. My favorite recipe as of late is their Creamy Pesto Pasta. Yummy!

Design Sponge is my newest discovery. It is a design blog run by Brooklyn-based writer, Grace Bonney I found her new book on a recent trip to the greatest store in the world Anthropologie. I seriously get so happy when I am in there I can barley stand it. Her blog and book are full of great home decor ideas, tips and trends, party and event planning and much more. She also runs the D*S Biz Lady Series which is an organization for women who run design based businesses. Be sure to check her out on facebook as well.

hello lovely: a favorite letterpressed invitation set

2011-10-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

No matter how many times I see and feel a piece that has been letterpressed, I still feel like I'm swooning. The gorgeous texture of the design and ink pressed into the paper is something I will never tire of. And I couldn't love more, the way bride Rachel's Zackrison's invitation turned out.

Wanting to keep within the French bed and breakfast theme she was incorporating into her wedding, we designed up this elegant invitation set. Rachel also found this amazing resource for vintage stamps to use on each envelope. I absolutely love these, and never want to throw this envelope away!

We also designed up several signs to place at different areas of the reception. I am overjoyed when brides allow us to think beyond just the invitation set for ways to brand and doll up their wedding. Welcome signs are a great beginning to wooing your guest upon first arrival. If you are having your reception at a hard to find location, welcome and directional signs can help excite your guests upon their arrival while also reassuring them they have found the correct venue. It's the extra little touches that put things over the top and make it look well thought out and amazing.

Some other ideas for signage could be for the table your guests sign in, dessert and buffet tables, name cards, or the "heritage of love" table like Rachel and Ken did. Here they posted photos of their relatives on both sides who had married, parents, grandparents, great grandparents.

And last of all, don't forget to design out the thank you cards now. You will be that much more prepared to begin thanking your guests for sharing your big day and for their generous gifts, once the dust has settled and you and your newly wed spouse are back down from cloud 9.

Rachel and Ken's wedding was amazing and each detail was so well thought out. We were happy to be a part of such a beautiful day.

(reception photos courtesy of the fabulous Jonathan Canlas)

wedding invitation set: heidi & jeff

2011-10-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

When Heidi first came to us, she was walking away from another vendor who had been working on her wedding stationery that she was unhappy with. She was frustrated and eager to find someone who could design up just what she had envisioned for her big day.

Heidi was very interested in graphic patterns and elements that could frame in the overall text of the invitation. Her reception was going to have chandeliers and vintage picture frames and all of this surrounded by antique candle holders. She wanted something glamorous yet vintage.

We created a mash up of these ideas - playing off the picture frame concept by designing the invitation's outer border, and then using the inspiration of chandeliers to create the pattern that would make up this frame.

It was beautifully letterpressed with metallic gold and navy ink and looked fabulous when it was complete.

baby announcements: huck

2011-10-23T14:58:00.000-07:00

When Sarah and Scott had baby Huck, they were torn with the name. They loved "Huck" but also loved "Harrison". It was finally decided that Harrison would be the formal first name, but until he wished otherwise, they would refer to him with the nickname "Huck". And what better way to address this name choice with friends and family, to avoid any confusion, then in the birth announcement.

We love how thoughtful Sarah was in the choice and composition of Huck's photo.

The best advice we can give to our clients as they prepare to send out their cards, is to remember to let the photo be just as much a part of the design as the announcement card itself. While the picture of those chubby little cheeks are enough to steal the show - try hard to remember what you are dressing baby in, or what surface you are laying them down on to take the money shot.

With Huck's announcement, Sarah used some great fabric she had purchased for a baby blanket for Huck and placed him in a classic white onesie. I love the combination of either the patterned backdrop with a plain outfit or the patterned outfit with a plain backdrop. You can often purchase fat quarters of fabric at any local fabric store, and it should be enough to lay baby down on and get some glamour shots. This gives you so many options on how to compliment your baby announcement without having to drive from store to store trying to find a blanket made in such a print.

The announcement was beautifully letterpressed, and sent out in our gravel colored envelopes.

Kraft Letters and Paper Flowers

2011-10-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things in life is paper. There are so many fun things you can do with it. Paper Source has these really great paper flower kits and kraft letters. This past year when my daughter was born, Emily and I decided we would do a flower mobile, window covering and kraft letters in a a couple of patterns I found in the fine paper section. It was so fun and super easy. All you need is some scissors, glue, fishing line, some potting screws, and a pencil for tracing. The window covering was made, with the help of my dad, out of some really light weight ply wood. After that I covered it in the same paper I used for the flowers and letters.

These letters and flowers also work great for decorations at weddings. We have used the letters for a bride and groom monogram at the sign in table and the flowers for centerpiece options. They are super cute and can add variety to fresh flower options.

If you haven't visited a paper source store, you must. If you aren't lucky enough to have one close to you. Visit them online.

Ashley's Favorite Self Help Books

2011-10-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

This year a set out a goal to read one non fiction book a month. I love the process of learning and since we have been trying to grow two small businesses (f ourthday design & oneilove media), I have been have been looking for any book that could help me learn some additional skills in these areas. Here have been my 3 favorites so far.

48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller

This book is the perfect for someone trying to redirect their career path. He also has a blog and weekly podcast that I listen to. In his book he says that your career choices should be a compilation of these three areas.

Skills and Abilities

Personality Traits

Values Dreams and Passions

He also says the best way to predict your future is to create it!

I loved this book and it was one of the first ones that I read this year. I have always believed in finding work that is meaningful and doing what you love. If you are in a career rut, this book is a must read.

Linchpin by Seth Godin

I can't say enough good things about this book. It is about becoming indispensable in life and in the marketplace. This book is smart, unique, and inspiring. I had a difficult time putting it down.

There is a great chapter about our lizard brain. It is our mind and bodies resistance to things and it keeps us from performing to our best capacity.

He also says in it "There is no map. No map to be a leader, no map to be an artist. I've read hundreds of books about art (in all its forms) and how to do it, and not one has a clue about the map, because there isn't one."

This book helped teach me to take control of my life and stop waiting for things to just happen to me. If you want a great life, get about the business of making it happen.

Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey

I have been a huge Dave Ramsey fan since his last book The Total Money Makeover. We have been on his plan for the last five years and love the freedom we feel in our life, family and business from being debt free. I was so excited to read this book when it came out last month. I got through it in about 3 days.

The principles in this book are about building a small business with team members that are a combination of entrepreneurs and leaders. The book covers everything from unity and integrity to money management and taxes.

In it he says that leaders are trained, they aren't born. If you want to build a successful company, you need to lay the foundation early so people know what is expected of them.

I think it is a must read for anyone in small business.

So here are my three favorites so far. These books were a great starting point for me and I know they have helped me redirect the course of my professional and personal life. Hope you enjoy!

jill & charlie's wedding invitations

2011-10-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

Our dear friends Jill & Charlie decided to finally tie the knot, and we couldn't have been happier to design up an invitation set that would emulate their own hipness and style throughout their big day.

The couple have this amazing farm that the groom has taken on since his grandmother's passing. They have hosted several great summer bar-b-ques at this farm over great food and late night fire pits, and this is where the idea started for a country feel for the invitation set. Then a great deal of our inspiration sparked from our own love for Hatch Show prints. This is what we came up with.

The couple used the farm to also be the backdrop for their engagement photos... another way to really play up the country theme and connect the photos to the invitation set. We love when couples really tune into the aesthetics of how the invitation and photos work as a whole. Really think about colors, patterns and other elements that you use in your invitation to be played up in the photo in how you dress and your surroundings as well.

There are several other pieces to the wedding which we cannot show until the big day. It is such a great idea to incorporate the feel of the invitation throughout the rest of the wedding and reception. Think of small ways to pull elements across from that first announcing of your nuptials, all the way to the table settings, directional signage leading guest to the event, and other such elements on your big day. Think of it as a way to almost brand your wedding.

Check back in November just to see how we helped Jill & Charlie do all this. We are very excited for the 11th to come around.

so cute it's spooky

2011-10-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

This is the time of year is when I cannot resist from making something with pumpkin in it every day of the month. One of my all time favorite and easiest recipes, are these pumpkin cookies. I love to double up the recipe, plate them up and make some Halloween themed cards so I can take them around to the neighbors (otherwise, I might eat them all myself). The recipe is listed below.

This die cut from Martha Stewart rules. I love how it dolls up any plain old card - especially here with the realistic spooky illustrations juxtapositioned with the delicate frill of the cut out. She has several designs at Michael's Crafts, and if you go online, you can print yourself off a 40% off coupon to make your purchase all that more enjoyable.

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies

ingredients:

1 spice cake mix

1 can of pumpkin

1 bag milk chocolate chips

directions:

1. Combine spice cake mix (do not include eggs, oil/water or any of the ingredients box calls for) with can of pumpkin.

The batter will be very dry at first. Mix with spoon until well incorporated.

2. Add full bag of MILK chocolate chips. Do NOT use semi-sweet... these cookies deserve the best!

3. Spoon small balls onto cookie sheet and cook at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

Enjoy!

baby announcements: max

2011-10-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage.

At the other end of the wedding invitation spectrum is one of our other favorite things to design: announcements for our clients sweetest and smallest additions.

My own little man arrived on Thanksgiving day, almost one year ago. The turkey was in the oven, the pies were made... but he wasn't waiting and made his big debut 2 weeks early to his due date.

Even being a designer of a stationery shop, it still took me some time to get his announcements out. You have all this time before baby is here, 9 months to be exact, but once they come, things can get a little more chaotic in your sleep deprived state. We would suggest planning the announcement before baby arrives, and then once the little nugget is here, just add in their name and details. Easy breezy.

A lot of our clients use inspiration for their announcements from a special baby blanket, a piece of artwork that will be hung in the new nursery, or maybe something they remember and hold dear from their own childhood.

Little Max's announcement inspiration came from one of my all time favorite children's book growing up, Where The Wild Things Are. I wanted to use a line from the book, adapting it a bit to fit the announcement, and make it feel a little like a page out of a vintage children's book. Also, being a mother of now three boys, I liked playing off the idea of how sometimes I feel we are a house full of wild things. The final piece was letterpressed and mailed out in our gravel colored envelopes.

Custom Wedding

2011-10-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

At fourthday we have several options for clients in regards to their wedding stationery needs. Some of our brides prefer to pick from an existing design in our collection and we also have brides who choose to have us design their invite unique to them around the details of their wedding. Here are some of our favorites from our custom collections. I love love love letterpress. It is such a classic and beautiful way to have your invites printed. The custom bands and colored envelopes are also a popular item for our custom clients.

Fringe + Frilly Backdrop

2011-10-04T14:55:00.000-07:00

For our recent trade show and photoshoot we made a fringe and frilly backdrop that several people have asked us about how to make. We got the great idea from one of our favorite design blogs ohhappyday.com. Here is the link on how to create the fringe + frill.

Fourthday + The Chocolate

2011-10-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

We recently had the opportunity to team up with our friends at thechocolatedc.com for a blog feature we did with thebrideandgroom.com. Here we showcase an invitation suite in peacock and sunshine paired with some decadent dessert. The setting was their West Jordan location. I love the way the photos turned out, and ps, the lemon cupcakes are to die for.

the color guide

2011-10-02T20:56:00.000-07:00

Here is the fourthday color guide. All invites in our collection can be customized with any of these color options. Colored envelopes are a great way to add variety and style to your invitations. The hottest colors for fall are permission, fig, gold and moss. We get our envelopes at an online wholesaler wastenotpaper.com. We love their products.

Bridal Show - South Town Expo

2011-10-02T13:00:00.001-07:00

Special thanks to all the brides that came out to the Bridal Extravaganza yesterday. It was a great event.
Our friends at thebrideandgroom.com do a wonderful show!

mia

2011-10-02T12:09:00.000-07:00

hanna

2011-10-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

dakota

2011-10-02T12:06:00.001-07:00

avery

2011-10-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

katrina

2011-10-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

ava

2011-10-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

naomi

2011-10-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

lucille

2011-10-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

lynsey

2011-10-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

jennifer

2011-10-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

amy

2011-10-02T11:42:00.002-07:00

olivia

2011-10-02T11:42:00.000-07:00

amanda

2011-10-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

the collection

2011-10-02T11:33:00.000-07:00