Petal and Print

Hands down my number one most frequently asked question at Petal and Print is whether or not I ship to Australia. Aussie brides love Petal and Print! Don’t know why, but I’ll take it.  Daina is the first of a few orders shipping to Australia this year,  and she’s been an absolute pleasure to work with.  I did a bouquet, boutonniere, wrist corsage, magnet corsage, and ring pillow for her. All were custom dyed (you can hardly tell in the photos, but the centers and the ring pillow are all a very soft aqua) with custom rhinestone centers rather than the usual pearl button centers I do.  For an additional custom detail, I embroidered her wedding date and married monogram on a leaf on the underside of the bouquet. I’m really looking forward to seeing these pictures because not only is she using the bouquet for her ceremony, she has had her cake custom made with a hole in the center to accommodate the flower for use as a giant cake topper!

Nole  from Oh So Beautiful Paper has long been a friend to me and even longer been an inspiration to paper lovers the world over.  She and Kathryn from Snippet and Ink have unintentionally changed my life forever by featuring my work and making Petal and Print possible. I have met many amazing blogger friends over the years and feel grateful for every feature I’ve ever been included in, but from the beginning, I have the two of them to thank for the awesome job I get to do today. Kathryn featured my actual wedding and Nole featured my invitations, and I could never have been prepared for the flood of interest that followed.  You ladies are amazing!

So, after Nole featured my invites, I sent her an email to say thank you.  She wrote the nicest note back, and we’ve had an opportunity over the last few years to become industry acquaintances and more importantly friends.   When she moved, I wanted to do something special to say thank you for all she’s done for me over the years, and so as I am a stationer, I thought it would be fun to give her custom moving announcements! Something I wanted to do when we bought our house, but that of course got pushed to the side when we had so much else to do and pay for.  Nole did a post this morning on the announcements, and you can read the whole thing here.  I’ve posted a few images below, including one of my favorite details from the whole set;  Nole used state bird stamps that she found and tried to match recipients with the appropriate state.

This is a first for me – a bride contacted me to see if I could incorporate a memento of her groom’s late grandfather’s into his grandmother’s corsage.  Immediately I knew this was something I wanted to work on.  I love the fact that my flowers play even a small part in my customers weddings, but that they might be something even more special like this just really makes me smile.  I hope she has fond memories of her husband as she wears this corsage with his pin.  I’m so excited that Jen found me and that I had the opportunity to work on all of her pieces.  See the rest here.

This is a small order I finished up the other week.  This bride just ordered a bouquet for herself and a boutonniere for her groom.  They’re custom dyed to match the bridesmaids dresses, and I LOVE the black and white ribbon detailing! Looking forward to seeing the professional pictures from all my recent wedding orders.  PS – sorry for the lazy pictures on the couch, I was in a rush to get these in the mail!

custom fabric boutonnnier for dad's

custom fabric and button boutonniere for groom

groom's boutonniere detail

custom fabric flower fascinator

fabric flower fascinator detail

custom fabric corsages

So this is a picture heavy post, but I wanted to get some good detail shots in here so you could see how a set comes together.  This is an order for a July wedding in tones of aqua and white.  You may remember it from this post and this one from a week or so ago.  I will do the bouquets in another post early next week, but I wanted to share some of these with you now while I had a moment.  All the fabric for flowers and velvet ribbon are hand dyed in shades to match the bride’s color palette and then they are crafted by hand into little blooms.  All Boutonnieres come with 2 pins, corsages are made on magnets rather than pins so they don’t damage clothes, and the hair combs come on your choice of clear or brown comb.  Congratulations to Melany and David! Hopefully I can get some pretty pictures in July and then share them with you here.

This is a really fun new branding project I am working on for one of my favorite clients of all time! We’ve had a long history together and she’s always a blast to work with.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her as she embarks on this new adventure / business!  Here are some rough proofs of her business cards on their way in the mail for a color check before they go to press. I’ll be posting more work for the city squirrel as I work more on her stationery suite in the future.

PS – From the desk of is an old category I’m going to try to bring back.  This is where I show snippets of where I am in projects and what’s currently on my “desk”.

Just popping in for a moment to share a quick snapshot of a corsage I’ve just completed. Pictures of the full set will come on Monday or Tuesday, and I can’t wait to share! Oh, and that pretty little coordinating necklace? you can find it here!

Here’s another little set of custom boutonnieres I recently finished up.  I got to incorporate one of my very favorite ribbons into this group.  I found the entire blue and white polka dot spool for 50 cents at an antique store and I could not be more thrilled with it.  The velvet is vintage and I hand dyed it to bring a bit of brighter blue into the mix.  This bride has been a real pleasure to work with, and I just can’t wait to make the next piece for this set.  It’s going to be  an heirloom corsage for the groom’s grandmother made using a pin that belonged to his late grandfather.  I was really touched by the sweetness of it all when this bride asked me if I could incorporate the momento.  I am sure it will not be lost on her new grandmother (in law).  Will post pictures of the corsage when it is complete.

Just a simple little buddy that got shipped out yesterday along with a giant fluffy white bridal bloom and a very pretty hair flower.  They’ll all be making the long trip to Mexico for a wedding in May.  Conratulations Eliza and John! I can’t wait to see pictures.

If you have not seen Nelle Handbags and clutches, head on over and start making your wishlist. I can’t wait til mine arrive.   I could not decide on color, so I ordered 2, and I told Laura that I could have ordered at least 3 more! Not only is her work impeccable (I have seen it in person) is is whimsical and pretty and perfect.  I can’t remember a time I was more excited for something to come in the mail!  And then, some day soon when I have another $160 lying around I’m going to buy that pretty shopper in grey! I am a sucker for pretty grosgrain ribbon, and wow, left in Laura’s hands, it could not get any more fantastic!

just popping by to say happy weekend! I have been working on trying to get some better product shots for the shop and site in general, so here is a first attempt. I’ll be releasing a new mini collection of stationery in the spring and I’m looking forward to the warmer light we’ve been having around here lately!  Hope you all have a very happy valentine’s day weekend!

I don’t talk much about my life outside of Petal and Print here, but now seems like as good a time as any. I had someone ask me recently what the secret to my success is, which frankly made me laugh a little because as much as I am happy that you all know about me and my little business, I would not say I have “made it”.  So, I’ll tell you what I told her. I work really really hard. I’ve been in the wedding industry for more than 10 years. I work 7 days a week, almost every week. I have 2 part time jobs, and though I originally took them because I needed to earn more money while Petal and Print was getting off the ground, I keep them because they give me an opportunity to do other things I love and work with people who are talented and interesting and awesome to be around. They keep my brain and heart excited about the work that I do here, because they give me the security to be a little more picky about the jobs that I take than I used to get to be.  So, I guess the secret is just like everyone says, do what you love.  Work hard, be passionate, help people.  The lovely flowers above are the take home perks of being a part time florist.  On fridays, holidays, and many weekends in the spring through fall you can find me elbows deep in fresh flowers with the girls at The Floral Studio.

Just a quick picture to show the adorable gift I just gave to one of my dearest friends who will be having a baby at the end of this month! There are a lot of good things happening in this picture… beautiful japanese screen printed wrapping paper, vintage pale pink velvet ribbon, a super cute card from Rifle, all dressed up with one of my fabric flower hair clips.  I knew she was not going to want to open this gift when I gave it to her for fear of messing up the pretty packaging, so I thought ahead, and took this picture!  Congrats to the soon-to-be mama and papa both.  Looking forward to my upcoming babysitting duties!

This beautiful pair of antique arm chairs is for sale! They used to be in our office at the Paperie and will be perfect for your pretty office or home.  I love these chairs and will be sad to see them go, but they just don’t fit in my house. They are also great for making a bride and groom feel even more special at their wedding. Please contact me if you’d be interested.  They’re $1000 for the pair and they are in really good shape.

In my dream world, I would have worn this dress and carried my giant fabric bloom on my wedding day.  I would just have gone crazy for the ruffles!  I found this fantastic Leanne Marshall dress originally on coco+kelley which is always a great source for inspiration.  I’ve been a fan of Leanne’s ever since she was on project runway, so I’m thrilled to see all the gorgeous work she is selling on her etsy site. If you are looking for a magical dress of your own, head on over and see what she has been up to.

photo by Yvette Inufio

I have spent the best years of my professional life first as a designer and printer at Chelle Paperie, and ultimately as a co-owner of the Paperie.  In the near future, my business partner and dear friend will move far away.  With the distance between us, it did not make sense to keep the Paperie.  It will be missed for sure, but we each embark on a new adventure, her a cross country move with her family, and me, this crazy new biz I fondly call Petal and Print.  We’ve decided the only thing to do now is make her some fantastic new stationery and become pen pals!  Thank you for your patronage of Chelle Paperie over the years! I’ll be continuing the design and printing of invitations here, and she will take projects on a case by case basis.

BEAUTIFUL photo by Yvette Inufio

I have a lot of brides email me and want to know how it all works here at Petal and Print.  I thought I would take a moment to let you all in on the behind the scenes. Everything I do is custom, whether that is fabric flowers dyed to match your dresses or other elements, or if that is your wedding invitations and reception stationery.  I encourage brides to send me little snippets of things that inspire them; colors, materials, textures.  It gives me a great sense of the story of your day, and since we don’t often get to meet in person, it helps me get the colors and material choices right on.  These are the inspiration snippets for a July wedding that I am working on now.  She sent me all the paper and material swatches on the cards at the top of the image and the save the date on the side, and I dyed fabrics and chose buttons and ribbons and materials to coordinate with those.  I have just gotten in the rest of her ribbons and can’t wait to start stitching her blooms!  Will post pictures of the work in progress as it gets underway next week!

I’m a little short on time this week so posting is light, but I did want to share an incredibly talented photographers work with you. She has nothing to do with the wedding world.  I studied paladium printing under her at Maryland Institute College of Art, and in my dream world would have been able to hire her for some portraits when Ben and I got married. She shoots with an 8×10 camera, and prints directly on tissue thin paper hand painted with emulsion.  Regina is one of the most wonderful people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.  She is an inspiration and it was an honor to work with her as a student and later as a TA.  I have one of her prints hanging in my dining room, it is signed, “for Katie” and is one of my most treasured things. She has made an impression on me equal to that of the talented and gentle Emmet Gowin and Sally Mann. I am excited to share her work with you here.

Ok, Ladies you have 2 chances to win here! In celebration of The Inspired Bride turning 2, I have partnered with Maddy to run a drawing for a $100 gift certificate towards custom orders placed in the next year.  Head on over to her site to enter that drawing, and then to better your chances, hop on over to Project Wedding and enter their contest with a prize of a custom bouquet, boutonniere, and hair piece valued at $310.00 I am thrilled to be participating in both this week and am really excited about working with the winners to create their custom pieces! Good luck to everyone who enters!

I have a few go to sources of inspiration when I am dreaming up designs and projects, and Rebecca Thuss is at the top of my list (and should be at the top of yours too).  In the days when I was just falling in love with weddings, Rebecca was the style director of Martha Stewart Weddings.   She did a fantastic job with that publication and with everybody’s old favorite Blueprint. Rebecca’s work is whimsical and clean, fun but not frilly.  Ever single time she hits the nail on the head.  She now works with her husband Patrick as the design and photography powerhouse Thuss Farrell. I am pretty sure that they make magic.  Even though it looks like the sites have not been updated in a while, the work that is there is well worth a look.  I check their site often and am looking forward to seeing what updates they have in store.  In the mean time, enjoy the eye candy!

All the images in this post are from Either Rebecca’s website or Thuss Farrell.  Images from Weddings, Blueprint, and MSL are copyright © MSLO— All other photography © ThussFarrell