Sam Allen Creates : May and June 2015
I don’t know about you but May seems just like yesterday so posting about projects created that month, and in June, seems totally valid. Right right?
Even if that’s just me feeling that way, you still may like seeing a peek at some of the projects that came across my desk that month. Considering we were gone in Oregon and Colorado for half of May, this compilation is that much crazier to me—and of course still working full time.
I definitely felt quite crazy there for awhile, but here’s why…
May
First up, I wanted to share some custom invitations I created through my shop… a very festive Taco Twosday birthday invitation and a vintage western-like wedding invitation. The western invite was for a friend from high school!
I had a request for a watercolor painted wedding invitation. At the time, I was quite frank with the bride, telling her that I wasn’t quite experienced in watercoloring outside of lettering and I wasn’t sure if I could create a design worthy of her invites BUT if she gave me a few days to practice and see what I could come up with—and if she approved—then I would be more than happy to make her wedding invites.
I don’t normally work on Etsy projects before getting the job and getting paid, but for this project in particular, I so badly wanted the opportunity and to take on the challenge that it was totally worth the up front risk of possibly not getting the job.
Thankfully, I came up with a wreath design that she loved so we were able to go forward with the order and I LOVE how it came out so much!! It was a worthy challenge and I am so very thankful I had the opportunity as it came in very handy in June when I had to paint my wonderful friend Lindsey’s wedding invitations. God sure knows what He’s doing, that’s for sure.
Speaking of Lindsey’s wedding…. I got a ton more practice in brush calligraphy as I addressed her wedding envelopes while in Colorado.
I also got to design her shower invitation which we designed as an oversized tea bag with hang tag (for registry info). So adorable!
If you follow me on Instagram, you would definitely know that painting my lettering is pretty much my new favorite thing ever! I think there’s something about working digitally for so many years that has made me crave the tactile feel of painting. I had planned to paint my mom a canvas for Christmas but after putting it off, I thought gifting canvasses for all my moms (mother in law and grandmother included) would be perfect for Mother’s Day!
After my friend Jess saw all my Mother’s day canvasses, she passed me a wide horizontal blank canvas to paint up for her gallery wall. It fit perfectly and I loved the colors!
Another little project from Etsy was this Kraft paper print I lettered in white. I just love these types of projects! Create your own custom lettered print here.
How does this date this post…. this gorgeous girl is having her BABY girl NEXT month!! I have so many more fun things to share of projects with Trisha. I am so thankful she has girls that I can craft like crazy for. If only boys loved bubbly feminine cursive too because I have a plethora of the world’s cutest nephews too!
And of course new stamp designs were released! Perfect for sparkler wedding favors.
It got pretty hectic as our big road trip to Oregon and Colorado came up… between doing the calligraphy on tent cards for a first birthday party and a wedding, I also got to write out tags for a destination wedding’s welcome gifts!
This adorable first birthday was featured here. Photo sourced from Dowoolee Photography.
Photo by Details Nashville
P.S. for May… I also co-hosted my friend Brittany’s baby shower! See more photos of that gorgeous day here.
June
The month of June started with catching up from our trip and then we went deep into wedding invitation mode. My floor was covered in paintings as I experimented in different styles of painting the water lilies. It was definitely a challenge I was up for and I love the result…
I shared the envelopes above with you, but here’s an overview of Lindsey’s wedding invitation suite. We pulled it together within a week from design to stuffing the envelopes for mailing. I can’t wait to share more of this project because it’s seriously one of my favorites. Ever.
Besides the wedding invite, I also got to recreate my most popular invitation, the rehearsal dinner invitation from my friend Amie’s wedding a couple years ago. But this time, it was hand painted to go with Lindsey’s watercolor theme.
Back in the Etsy shop world, another fun wedding project was creating these gold calligraphy, ivory scallop tags that were to be attached to skeleton keys! The official professional images have yet to be released… but I seriously can’t wait to see them!
And of course, after the wedding is over… the vows are what last. This may be my new favorite out of all the vows I’ve handlettered! Purchase your own set here.
And I think Nikki may have ordered nearly every wedding related card I’ve ever created!
But these may be THE cutest cards I’ve ever made… the bride’s new last name will be Biessenberger so there are going to be bees everywhere, even the hashtag: #beecomingbiessenberger!
While most of my work is in the wedding realm, it’s always fun to break out into birthday parties! They’re just so fun and festive!
My first project for Cheryl was addressing the birthday invitation envelopes, but then I also got to personalize a bunch of horse decals for the party itself. From the favors to the drink labels… there were horses everywhere! So adorable!
Photo provided by customer.
And finally a few stamps…
This set of stamps were created as a birthday gift for a teacher. So cute!!
Whew! So now that’s May and June… and it’s almost mid-September! Reviews of July/August will be coming up next!
