The Letter Z

Z is for ZED, the last letter in the alphabet (yes yes, I know in America we say “ZEE” but I thought this was a smidge more clever)

I also thought it appropriate to post the last letter of the alphabet on the last day of the year.

So my wish to all is for you to have a very safe and happy New Year’s Eve and may 2011 bring you joy and all that cheesy stuff you say at the New Year.

And finally the letter Z:

Typography/Font Roll Call

Top Row:  Poplar Standard Black, Liberty BT, DecoCaps

Middle Row: Giddyup, Carnivalee Freakshow, Guttenberg MF

Bottom Row: Oliver, Showboat Regular, Braggadocio

I feel like a debutante.

But I don’t get to wear a pretty white dress…darn…but the cover of the magazine I am in has a lovely white dress on the cover!

I took the plunge, I now officially advertise in a real live print magazine, Nebraska Wedding Day, and it is out on the shelves at your respective bookstore (well if you live in or near Nebraska that is).

I am pretty excited about this new exposure, not only because my ad is out there for tons and tons of brides to see but NE Wedding Day also took some of my sample photos and used them in their feature! Too fun! Take a look at my début to the wonderful world of wedding magazines.

 If the invites from the photo on the top left look familiar it is because they are Inkblot Invites!  See the close ups of these Butter Cream, Burnt Sugar and Diamond Invites Here!

And a teaser for the brides out there: In early January I will be featured on NE wedding Day’s Blog with a Friday Freebee and it is quite the grand giveaway…if I do say so myself!

SHOES, one of my happy places

Stop one minute…you have GOT to be kidding me. Did YOU know, because I never knew!?!?!?! (If you did know, I am giving you a dirty look through cyberspace for not telling me...grrrrrr.)

There is a shoe company online, Shoes of Prey, that you can design your own shoe, I mean really design one. You submit a drawing of a shoe and viola!, a real shoe comes out (well gets shipped to you, if the shoe came out of the computer, THAT really would be amazing!)

Check it out you can go from this:

To this:

Wow oh wow oh wow-y wow wow. I am almost speechless.

I am SO adding this to my wish list: a gift certificate for my own, one of a kind, couture shoe, designed by me!

Not to mention that these really would come in handy to all the brides out there searching for the perfect shoe…can’t find one? Well, design it yourself and you can check that off the to-do list!
(and not to worry, if you don't have a creative bone in your body, you can select a pre-designed option and customize it)

Well I must say, I may have to restrain myself.    Look out Shoes of Prey, here I come!

The Letter Y

Y is for yard work, as in please excuse all the yard work that has yet to be done (and is now covered in snow at the moment), but I had to show these before and after shots of my (exterior) home makeover!  It has been a long time coming (as you can tell from before photo taken in the spring, when the yard was green, and the end photo taken in the fall...and the yard is well...brown...but remember you are supposed to ignore that.)

BEFORE

AFTER

There are still a few updates to make, a bit of paint touchup, swapping the house numbers, and updating the mailbox at the curb, but you get a pretty good overall effect in this photo.  :)

& The Letter Y

Typography/Font Roll Call

Top Row:  Morgan TwentyNine, Poplar Standard Black, DecoCaps

Middle Row: Giddyup, Carnivalee Freakshow, Guttenberg MF

Bottom Row: Oliver, MaxInitiale, Braggadocio

ANOTHER Design Challenge...

...yep that is right, I just can't get enough!

Minted strikes again!  If you follow me on a regular basis, you know by now that I am OBSESSED with these MINTED challenges! Ha!

Well the Getting Hitched Save the Date Challenge just wrapped up and I would LOVE your help voting for my designs.  So please click on the below links and vote my designs HIGH!  :)

Argyle Sweater Save the Date

wedding stationery - Argyle Sweater

Big Day Hooray Save the Date

wedding stationery - Big Day HOORAY!

Sealed & Delivered Save the Date

wedding stationery - Sealed & Delivered

Snowy Heart Save the Date

wedding stationery - Snowy Heart

Spiral Wave Save the Date

wedding stationery - Spiral Wave

Many Thanks
- Megan

The Letter X

X is for XMas Cards…well holiday cards in general.   If you are a bit behind on your holiday to-do list and still need holiday cards, shoot me an email! (info@inkblotpaper.com)

Here are a few design ideas:

photo by elizabeth rose photography

photo by anne peterson photography

photo by elizabeth rose photography

A big thanks to my good friend Anne for letting me use these photos and Erika of Elizabeth Rose Photography for taking such lovely photos!

Typography/Font Roll Call

Top Row:  Morgan TwentyNine, English111 Presto BT, DecoCaps

Middle Row: Giddyup, Poplar Standard Black, Guttenberg MF

Bottom Row: Oliver, MaxInitiale, Braggadocio

The Letter W

W is for Winter....ugh.  I do not like winter.  It is cold and snowy....ugh. 

But I must look on the bright side of things!  Winter = Holidays and I am so excited for the holidays this year!   While many people may complain about spending time with family over the holidays, I revel in it!  I really do love my family, extended family and of course all my friends that make the trip back to Omaha over this festive season!

So I will put on my scarf, mittens, and hat (even though I am totally not a hat person, I really wish I were, but alas, I am not), hop out into the freezing cold weather and hope that my car seat warmers are in good working order.   Happy Winter everyone!  

Typography/Font Roll Call

Top Row:  Morgan TwentyNine, Eccentric Standard, DecoCaps

Middle Row:  Poplar Standard Black, , Tropicana, Guttenberg MF

Bottom Row: Currency, Oliver, Braggadocio

The Letter V

V is for Victory!

Well sort of, one of my designs made it to the top 50 of the Minted.com’s wedding invitation challenge.  The top 10 is really what I was shooting for, but this is just a lovely boost to my ego that out of 1480 submissions, mine made number 45.   :)

Now I am gearing up for the next challenge, save the dates.  We will just see what happens.   I have a few designs in the mix at the moment, but am working on revising them and creating a few more.

Typography/Font Roll Call

Top Row:  Morgan TwentyNine, Budmo Jiggler, Eccentric Standard

Middle Row:  Poplar Standard Black, Guttenberg MF, Tropicana

Bottom Row: Currency, Oliver, Braggadocio

The Letter U

Typography/Font Roll Call

Top Row: Morgan TwentyNine, Budmo Jiggler, Juniper-Normal

Middle Row: Poplar Standard Black, Solange, Showboat Regular

Bottom Row: DecoCaps, Carousel , Braggadocio

Vintage Posters = Fabulous Decor of Your Very Own

WOW!  I found some pretty amazing custom posters over at the Ruffled Blog.  I couldn’t WAIT to share this with you.

These amazing creations are by Alexander & Co and they sell them as save the dates, posters and more.   The pricing is pretty reasonable for a custom piece of art and even better for the cards and magnets!

Just imagine one of these beautiful posters greeting wedding guests into the wedding and then doubling as a beautiful piece of artwork in your living room after the big day!

And they have some for kids too! LOVE IT!

The Letter T

T is for Thanksgiving!  I know, I know this is totally a late post as thanksgiving was TWO whole days ago, but I have a good excuse!  I was on a cruise and missed out on the actual day, so my family was every so nice to shift this past Thursday’s celebration to Sunday…so I still have thanksgiving to celebrate!

I truly hope everyone had a terrific holiday and that you are all extending it through the weekend!

For now here is the letter T

Typography/Font Roll Call

Top Row:  Morgan TwentyNine, Carousel, Harrington

Middle Row: Braggadocio, Solange, Showboat Regular

Bottom Row:  DecoCaps, Budmo Jiggler, Oliver

And a little peak at how I spent my thanksgiving day!  (oh, how I wish I could spend every day on a private island!)

The Letter S

S is for Andrea, I know that sounds a bit strange….you may think that Andrea doesn’t start with an S…well it does now.   On my old phone I had the number for my sister, Andrea, programmed to speed dial when I pressed the letter A.  Well I just got a new phone the other day…I am actually very happy with it but for this one downfall:  On my new phone, the A button is pre-programmed to lock the phone…so now my sister must change her name to SAndrea…(S was the closest button to A, so that just made sense to me).   It will take some getting used to, but in the end, SAndrea is just a single button away, and that is really what matters. 

Typography/Font Roll Call:

Bauhaus 93, Always Regular, Gill Sans Ultra Bold

Braggadocio, Solange, DecoCaps

Rosewood Standard, Budmo Jiggler, Guttenberg MF

S is also for Sorry.  I have to apologize for missing 2 days of letters!  AGH…it is a busy season!  What with the holiday week approaching and all that comes with it, I will do my best to continue to post the remaining letters of the alphabet as much as possible, but I may miss a day or two or a few.   Not to fret once the Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone, I will be right back on track again.

The Letter R

Typography/Font Roll Call

Top Row:  Bauhaus 93, Amaze Normal, Gill Sans Ultra Bold

Middle Row:  Braggadocio, Solange, Morgan TwentyNine

Bottom Row:  Tropicana, Grease, Guttenberg MF

The Letter Q

Q is for Quandary

I’ve always been intrigued by this mysterious letter Q.   The letter that tends to be so exclusive and usually just hangs out with the letter u...what is so great about the letter u?  Huh?  Is it just a trophy letter or does it have a great personality as well?  Hmmm...Well I’ll have to come up with something soon if I am going to post about 'u'

On a non-Q related topic, I had a GREAT time at the Pop-Cork Wine tasting last night!   I pretty much listened to the education part of the presentation until the 4th wine and after that...well lets just say I wasn't the only one that stopped taking notes! Ha! 

Anyway happy Wednesday to you all!

Typography/Font Roll Call

Top Row:  Lucida Backletter, Oliver, Gill Sans Ultra Bold

Middle Row:  Budmo Jiggler, Solange, Rosewood Standard

Bottom Row:  MaxInitiale, Giddyup Standard, Harrington

The Letter P

P is for Popcorn!  I am a HUGE fan of popcorn, in fact I could easily switch out any meal of the day for popcorn.   AND it is soooo hard to resist.  I could go out for dinner and a movie, stuff my face at dinner on some gourmet dish followed by dessert and still get to the movie theater and as soon as that waive of popcorn smell hits me, I am standing in line to get my popcorn!

Well tonight will be a big treat since I am attending the Greater Omaha Chapter of the National Association of Catering Executive’s (GO NACE) Pop-Cork Experience with Sharon Charny with Sun Belt Charmer Group.   This pairs my TWO favorite things, WINE & POPCORN!!!!  Strange you may think, to pair the two together, but apparently the popcorn will enhance the taste of the wine and bla bla bla bla….more wine please!  Well I hope that I pay a bit more attention than that, but we will just see!

Typography/Font Roll-Call

Top Row:  Sudestada, Oliver, Gill Sans Ultra Bold

Middle Row:  Budmo Jiggler, Solange, Rosewood Standard

Bottom Row:  MaxInitiale, Giddyup Standard, Harrington

The Letter O

Typography/Font Roll-Call

Top Row:  Tropicana, Oliver, Gill Sans Ultra Bold

Middle Row:  Budmo Jiggler, Bickham Script Pro, Showboat Regular

Bottom Row:  MaxInitiale, Giddyup Standard, Deco Caps

The Letter N

N is for November!

Fall is my FAVORITE time of year, I love the colors, I love the fashion and I LOVE the weather.   The 2010 season has not disappointed! 

I cannot believe how fast this year is flying by! 

Typography/Font Roll-Call

Top Row:  Showboat Regular, Mr Sheffield, Gill Sans Ultra Bold

Middle Row:  Budmo Jiggler, American Typewriter, Tropicana

Bottom Row:  Deco Caps, Giddyup Standard, MaxInitiale

The Letter M

M is for many many things!  For 25 years it was both my first and last initial (and of course it continues to be my first initial, along with my husband's as well – M is for Mike!) 

M is for Minted, my current obsession (please vote for my designs:  THE Couple & Watermark Leaf!!!).  

M is for magazines!  My guilty pleasure.  ReadyMade, Mental Floss & Dwell are among my favorites.

There is an entire list of more M 'likes', but I won’t bore you.

Typography/Font Roll-Call

Top Row:  Showboat Regular, Eccentric Standard, Gill Sans Ultra Bold

Middle Row: Tonight, Oliver, Tropicana

Bottom Row:  Deco Caps, Giddyup Standard, MaxInitiale 

The Letter L

Typography/Font Roll-Call

Top Row:  Showboat Regular, Koch-Antiqua Zier, Grease

Middle Row:  Tonight, Honey PF Championship Script Pro-Regular, Tropicana

Bottom Row: Carnivalee Freakshow, Guttenberg MF, Giddyup Std.

The Letter K

K is for Kick Off!  As in two of my designs at the Minted.com’s wedding invitation challenge made it through the 1^st elimination round and the voting round just kicked off! 

So here is my plea!   PLEASE vote for me by clicking on the images below!  (Yes you have to create an account, but I promise it will be worth it!)  Please rate me a ‘5’ and hopefully, fingers crossed, should I score high enough, I could earn a spot to sell one of these designs on minted.com!

wedding invitations - THE Couple

wedding invitations - Watermark Leaf

K is also for Klaire, the daughter of my friend Erika (check out her photography blog here and her crafty-creative blog here) and per her request, these colors coordinate with the letter G, for Grace, Klaire’s twin.

Typography/Font Roll-Call

Top Row:  Guttenberg MF, Tropicana, Giddyup

Middle Row: Braggadocio, Oliver, Showboat Regular

Bottom Row:  Nickelodeon, Christmas Card II, Budmo Jiggler

The Letter J

J is for Jennifer Shears.  

Jennifer is the talented artist behind the JShears etsy shop.  My latest etsy discovery!  This painting is like looking through a window!  

I am a strong believer that everyone should start an art collection of their own.   It doesn’t have to cost a fortune and it is one sure way to add character and sophistication to a home.  Plus it makes feel all grown up!

Typography/Font Roll-Call

Top Row:  Showboat Regular, Koch-Antiqua Zier, Christmas Card II

Middle Row:  Tonight, Honey Script, Tropicana

Bottom Row:  Carnivalee Freakshow, Currency, Giddyup Std.

The Letter I

I is also for Impatience!  I submitted some designs to Minted.com’s Wedding Challenge.   A total of 1480 designs were submitted, so before the voting is up, Minted is making the first cut so it is not such a daunting task for people to vote for soooo many designs.   I am very ANXIOUS!  I want to find out how my designs did and I really really really really want to make the cut this time around.   As soon as the voting is up, I will be sure to post about it and beg you all for support.

Typography/Font Roll Call

Top Row:  Tropicana, Lucida Backletter, Christmas Card II

Middle Row:  Giddyup Std., Carousel, Showboat Regular

Bottom Row:  Budmo Jiggler, Dearest Open, the King and Queen Font

Happy Tuesday!

The Letter H

H is for Holidays!  

Yep, it is true, the holiday season is upon us!  If you don't think so, just go to your local mall and take a gander at the Christmas decor that is draped from the ceilings and watch out or you may wander into Santa’s village by accident.  

While I am a fervent believer in no holiday decor before thanksgiving, I am also a planner at heart!  Now is the perfect time to place your order and get ready to send out a lovely card to family and friends just to make them feel special!  If you need a little help, let me know and I am happy to design up a few options for you!  (With photos or without, totally up to you!) And if you perish at the thought of writing all those addresses, just mention this blog post and I will print your addresses on your envelopes for free!

Typography/Font Roll-Call

Top Row: DecoCaps, American Typewriter,  Kino MT

Middle Row: Juniper-Normal, Bauhaus 93, Solange

Bottom Row: Hobo Std Medium, Currency, Marcelle Script

H is also for Hudson!  

Hudson Grey is turning1!  Can you believe it!  Hudson’s mother is a great friend of mine and an excellent client as well! (Hudson's first year includes an array of fabulous paper designs including birth announcements, baptism invitations and a housewarming party invite, well those were more for his parents I guess).  So, in the celebration of his 1st year, here is the latest design created for Hudson Grey! (Once they are printed, I will be sure to snap a photo to share!)

  

Front of Invite

Back Design of Invite

The Letter G

G is for me!  Well for Gilligan, my name by marriage.  A name that I fully embrace, despite my aversion to writing the letter G.   I am even a proud owner of some vintage rocks glasses with Gs printed on them. (I am drinking out of now right now!)

Typography/Font Roll-Call

Top: Tropicana, Guttenberg MF, Christmas Card II

Middle: Braggadocio, Cocktail, Showboat Regular

Bottom:  Oliver, Baskerville Old Face, Budmo Jiggler

The Letter F

F is for FABulous.   And just for the record, ‘Fabulous & Fab’ have been my catch phrase since WAY before the orbit gum commercials.  They must have gotten the idea from me! (hmmmm)  I will admit however, that I do wish I had the figure and the BRIGHT WHITE teeth of the lovely Vanessa Branch (the Orbit Gum Commercial Actress). 

Typography/Font Roll-Call

Top: Charlemagne Std Bold, DecoCaps, American Typewriter

Middle: Showboat Regular,  Bauhaus 93, Braggadocio

Bottom: Oliver, Tropicana, Budmo Jiggler 

The Letter E

E is for Erika, my favorite...well, and only...big sister ever!  Not sure if this is really up her 'color ally', but I am just loving the mustardy yellow color next to the mauve and navy. :)

Font/Typography Roll-Call:

Top Row:  Carousel, DecoCaps, Prestige Elite Std Bold,

Middle Row: Showboat Regular,  Bauhaus 93, English 111 Presto BT

Bottom Row: Budmo Jiggler, Rosewood Std, Oliver

The Letter D

Well just a few days into this letter project, and I am loving it.   I actually enjoy figuring out the color schemes for each letter and so far this is my favorite...probably because blue and orange are my favorite complementary colors.

Font/Typography Roll-Call:

Top Row: Carousel, DecoCaps, Prestige Elite Std Bold,

Middle Row:  Showboat Regular,  English 111 Presto BT, Bauhaus 93

Bottom Row:  JaneAusten, Rosewood Std, Oliver

The Letter C

Font/Typography Roll-Call (From Left to Right)

Top Row: Oliver, DecoCaps, Bauhaus 93

Middle Row: Carousel, Parisian BT,  English 111 Presto BT

Bottom Row:  HibsNibs NF, Rosewood Std, Blackoak Std 

The Letter B

Font/Typography roll-call from left to right:

Top Row: Oliver, DecoCaps & English 111 Presto BC

Middle Row: DellaRobia BT, Desdemona & Bauhaus 93

Bottom Row: Marcelle Script, Rosewood Std & Budmo Jiggler