custom invitations & stationery

About

Syd Design is a custom stationery company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As a small business, we strive to promote and support the local community while working towards a healthier planet.

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February 14

happy valentines

“I am fortunate enough to have found the one person that completes me, someone who challenges me, and urges me to grow and learn. You are the person whom knows me better than any other, the one who understands my emotions and feelings. We are so lucky to hold such similar life goals and dreams, and as privileged to pursue these together with much love and vigor. These past five months have held some of the best times of my life where we have been together, talking, living and enjoying each other’s company. We’ve encountered stressful and depressing times, but have thus emerged on the other side, stronger and happier than before because we are always right there for one another, ready to help and offer words of love and care. I eagerly look forward to the next couple of years as we grow and learn about each other and life in general. There are bound to be bumps and low points along this long road, but together we and our love will grow stronger.”

—

my husband, 2.14.2004

my dear husband wrote this 7 years ago {wow that seems like forever ago!} and every time i need a lift in life, i go back and read it to remind me of the amazing support & love we have for each other. happy valentines 2011 everyone, i hope you are able to enjoy the company of that person who completes you!

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February 11

Share the Love 2011


I love me some branding and marketing — especially for syd:) I hope if you are a planner and receive one of these boxes in the mail, you will enjoy unwrapping it as much as I enjoyed the design & assembly!

p.s. Wedding Planners: If I did not get you on my mailing list and you would like one to share some goodness (including coupons) with your brides, connect with me and I’ll be happy to send more along!

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February 9

lindsay + mack


This ensemble is full of lovely textures and shimmers! Working with Lindsay, we created a large-size pocket invitation in chocolate brown shimmer with shimmery ivory inserts and invite. The pocket was then wrapped with a band of Ivory Silk ribbon. We used the same ribbon to tie lovely bows around the programs.

For the day of their wedding {at Thousand Oaks Golf Club} we created the programs, menus, escort cards, table numbers & stickers for her candle favors, all in the same shimmery papers with the organic ivory design.

You must check out their gorgeous flowers from Posh Petals! I would go as far as saying this is THE most beautiful bouquet I saw in 2010.


The day of shots are from the talented Kristen Carlson at k.holly photography.
To see all of the fabulous shots from this wedding, check out the full blog post.

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February 4

fun promo goodies!

This is my goofy excited face after receiving a fun little box of goodies from Neenah Paper today! {i think i took 30 pics before getting just the right amount of goof:}


The package included three of their fun promo items; Fingerprint No. 2 Letterpress postcards {to promote Fingerprint No. 2 from HOW Publishing}, Impress with Letterpress {as an introduction to the Ladies of Letterpress}, and a postcard series of fake movie titles like, “The Man without a Typeface,” a collaboration with The Type Directors Club.      

I love the fact that Neenah is using stationery as some of their promotional offerings. It definitely helps bring a little love on our industry when subsequent industries use stationery to show off their materials.

Thank you Neenah for the gift, and thank you for also secretly “promoting,” the commonly overlooked, written note card :)

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February 3

libby + paul


I feel like this wedding stationery is one of the most timeless sets I’ve ever developed with a couple. I liked it so much that I decided to use it for one of my Studio Suites {aptly named Paul}.

Libby’s color combo was a dark blue, dark red and gold/yellow. We created an invite (pocket in the back style) along with save the dates, programs, menus, dessert cookie signs, wishing tree sign & a seating chart.

The story behind this particular design is from an afternoon I spent with my mom and grandma digging through my great grandparents chest. We found all sorts of treasures, my favorite being a book from 1901 called the Farmer’s Manual. There is everything from how to do your taxes to how to sell a pig inside! There is also a section on calligraphy with many intriguing images of calligraphy animals, mostly birds. The design on the top of this invite is the tail from one of those birds! The design fits well with my style and I look forward to using it more in the future!

These amazing photos (and engagement photo) come from Elizabeth of D & E Image. I LOVE how she was able to get photos of the invitation too!!

To see more from their day, check out this post on the D&E blog.

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January 28
pinterest There is a new site out called Pinterest. I keep calling it “P-interest,” although I think it’s suppose to be more like “Pin-terest”… not really sure, but however you say it, it’s a pretty neat site. If you ever use(d) del.icio.us, you can think of this new site much like that, except more visual. On Pinterest, you “pin” pictures you see and can make a comment/tags at the same time. You organize these pins with as many boards as you like. For example I’m doing a group of color boards and pinning up images that are inspiration for those colors. I’m also doing a sustainable wedding board and pinning up things I see that relate to planning a eco-friendly wedding. Think of it like a group of cork boards where you hang magazine cut-outs {something I don’t have time for anymore!} Now, the only issue is that as I’m typing this and trying to get to the site, it seems to be so over-loaded that I can’t even get to the about page to find more information to share here. Boo. Thus is the common issue with new sites that get more traffic & excitement than expected {or than they should have been prepared for}, but that’s another post for another blog. For now, let’s assume they are calling up all the big hosting providers to get a proper amount of bandwidth, because the site is really very cool. I find myself taking screenshots of inspiring images and saving them into folders on my hard drive, so this site will not only be fun, but also a useful tool for a designer like myself. I highly recommend checking it out if you are a visual person, need some quick inspiration or a way to quickly organize your inspiration! I have a handful of boards up so far, but am still working on filling them up with lovely images, if you are interested in following my boards, just visit pinterest.com/syddesign {but maybe you should wait till their servers are back up:}  enjoy!

pinterest


There is a new site out called Pinterest. I keep calling it “P-interest,” although I think it’s suppose to be more like “Pin-terest”… not really sure, but however you say it, it’s a pretty neat site.

If you ever use(d) del.icio.us, you can think of this new site much like that, except more visual. On Pinterest, you “pin” pictures you see and can make a comment/tags at the same time. You organize these pins with as many boards as you like. For example I’m doing a group of color boards and pinning up images that are inspiration for those colors. I’m also doing a sustainable wedding board and pinning up things I see that relate to planning a eco-friendly wedding. Think of it like a group of cork boards where you hang magazine cut-outs {something I don’t have time for anymore!}

Now, the only issue is that as I’m typing this and trying to get to the site, it seems to be so over-loaded that I can’t even get to the about page to find more information to share here. Boo. Thus is the common issue with new sites that get more traffic & excitement than expected {or than they should have been prepared for}, but that’s another post for another blog.

For now, let’s assume they are calling up all the big hosting providers to get a proper amount of bandwidth, because the site is really very cool. I find myself taking screenshots of inspiring images and saving them into folders on my hard drive, so this site will not only be fun, but also a useful tool for a designer like myself. I highly recommend checking it out if you are a visual person, need some quick inspiration or a way to quickly organize your inspiration!

I have a handful of boards up so far, but am still working on filling them up with lovely images, if you are interested in following my boards, just visit pinterest.com/syddesign {but maybe you should wait till their servers are back up:}  enjoy!

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January 25

elizabeth & steven


This particular wedding was near and dear to my heart not only because I love all the ideas beth had for her stationery, but also because they are family and I had the rare opportunity to be there the day of the wedding and see my stationery in play!

The color combo was robin’s egg blue and a lime-ish green, their setting was a beach (Camp Blodgett) and as you can see above we did everything from the save the dates, pocketfold invites (closed with a wax stamp, not shown here), escort cards (coordinated to the fabric on the tables), table numbers, a just married sign & programs.

Beth is an artist and did all of the illustrations herself for the save the date and invitation. She also made cute CD covers for their wedding day music CD that they gave to guests as favors & had tissue paper puffs hanging from the ceiling. Along with the simple cake centerpieces, the room looked adorable!

All the day-of photographs are from the talented Adam Bird Photography team.

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January 21
Against the Grain - a guest blog

If you didn’t get a chance to check it out, I was honored this week to be a guest blogger on Neenah Paper’s blog, Against the Grain. I know this is only a few very small ideas in the vast, inspiring world of sustainable weddings, but maybe I will have more ideas to come:)
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January 18

Honeysuckle


Pantone has announced their 2011 Color of the Year, Honeysuckle, which in a bad way reminds me of Pepto Bismo and in a good way reminds me of a deep red-pink nail polish. Maybe this is because those are (for serious) the only pink-ish things I own. I’m just not that kind of girlie girl.

Nothing against girlie things, trust me, I LOVED Barbie! Except, I was the sort of girl to make a lego spaceship for my Barbies and blast them on some crazy adventure. Pink dresses and tea parties just weren’t my thing.

And I don’t entirely disagree with Pantone, this color can be a great accent when used with a good base color. I very much enjoyed the color overcast from 2009 and 2010. I just know that PANTONE’s influence may flood the market so much so that I will get sick of it {a color I’m already not crazy about} very quickly.

Many blogs {like Elizabeth Anne Designs,  Wedded Luxe, Bossy Color Blog, decor8, The Finer Things} have a lot of good things to say {and great images} for Honeysuckle.

The Perfect Palette has put together some very nice inspiration boards for the top 10 colors as combos.

And on the hilarious flipside, ecosalon put in their 2-cents on the flamingo pink color hue.

I hope that brides out there don’t choose this {or any} color just because it might be a trend, I think your wedding color palette should mean something to you personally not just the era. Hmmm… I think this is another post on it’s own, “what inspires color.” For now, feel free to bask in the “Courageous, Confident, Vital, and Brave” color of Honeysuckle. {appropriate adjectives according to Pantone}

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January 14

Studio Collection Gallery!


The first look at my 2011 Studio Collection is up in the gallery! Above are three of my favorite designs from the set; Luke, Curtis & Levi. Please contact me for quote or any questions about how we can customize one of these suites to fit any unique event.

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