tribal + copper + calligraphy

kellyaplace — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:00:31 +0000

Finished up a second complete set of my ‘like a rock’ pairing. Hand cut linoleum block print in copper & silver, hand painted tribal design frame, and hand sewn & designed linen ‘rock’ soft sculpture. I am in love with this graphic combination of elements: the modern frame with the natural simplicity of the sentiment and rock.

Sent out a few envelope calligraphy samples today that I’m pretty excited about too.

liam’s first painting: curious excitement

kellyaplace — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:08:14 +0000

This weekend Michael and I decided to spontaneously introduce Liam to finger paint. I think we both realized fairly quickly that a drop cloth of some sort was in order. Oops. Watching him experiment with making marks (everywhere the brush could reach. you can see that we abandoned the confines of sitting down) and mixing colors filled me with an immeasurable amount of happiness and inspiration. Gosh, I don’t know who had more fun: this boy, or his overly proud parents!

glenora winery wedding

kellyaplace — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:00:32 +0000

Just finished up a very gardentastic wedding suite for a fellow RIT alumnus (and former resident!). The bride requested that I include the arbor at the winery where the ceremony will take place, and gave me a glimpse into the bridal bouquet inspiration. I love the combination of envelope colors she chose to go with the shimmer silver pocket, too – the lady has got taste! Oh, spring weddings are just so pretty!

a most charming rochester wedding

kellyaplace — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:28:22 +0000

I don’t think I could have imagined a more lovely collaborative invitation than this. Each piece was given so much character, down to every last detail. Cecelia has a way of making magic happen with vellum, and is the only person I know that can give a building a cute personality. This was just seriously fun to work on, and how pretty is that blush color? Can’t you just feel the love between these forever friends?

a decidedly patterned diptych

kellyaplace — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:06:31 +0000

I find that I’m often pretty embarrassed by how much time has passed since I’ve done a painting. I mean really really painted. I do a lot of watercolor pieces for wedding invitations, but my acrylic paint has simply been neglected. I miss it, and then when I pick it up again, it fights with me for a while before things pull together. I’m really pretty happy with my most recent piece, which is a diptych that I just finished for my parents. Each panel is 12×24″. I was caught somewhere between decorative italian renaissance scrollwork and more contemporary patterning, but I think I found a compromise. Time to head to their happy new home!

paper bag penmanship

kellyaplace — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:06:11 +0000

It’s been busy around here with lots of fun new weddings to work on. I’ve had some nice opportunities to try out new ink combinations on the last few envelope jobs. Both were on paper bag envelopes, which are always a perfect neutral to sneak a little color onto. One was accented with a blush color gouache, the other with a bright peacock blue. I’m really excited to see the full suites put together when they are back from the printer. One especially, which was a collaborative effort between my good friend Cecelia and me. Can’t wait to share it soon!

pretty pastels

kellyaplace — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:41:39 +0000

My latest wedding ensemble. They will be printed on a soft white stock, but just for fun I had a set printed on bright white to pair with dual tone gray envelopes. I’m torn. I think I’m liking this cream color after all, but I do love my grays! Thank goodness it wasn’t my decision, haha!

hand (writing & warming)

kellyaplace — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 04:37:52 +0000

I recently finished up a big calligraphy job for the absolute nicest former coworker, Allison, from my favorite stationery store. It was easy to become interested in illustrating and designing specifically for the wedding industry while I was around the inspiring, fun, & talented ladies at Poême ; so obviously I was thrilled to work on these. And I think I might like this slanted addressing, too.

It is nice to see a bit of freedom in my schedule now, before another wave of invitations begin. I’ve been finding tiny bits of time here and there to work on some adorably small projects (notice how cute that sentence sounds?). I whipped up this ‘pair and a spare’ set of mittens just last week for a lucky little lovebug.

lori & erin photography

kellyaplace — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 04:19:40 +0000

A few months ago at the RYP Entrepreneur Expo, I shared a cozy corner with fellow RIT alumnus and friend from student government, Lori Coleman. It’s a funny thing that after nearly 5 years, we both found ourselves married, immersed in the whirlwind of creative energy that is the wedding industry, & greatly influenced by wonderful families and children. Lori had recently joined forces with another local photographer, Erin Perotta, and they were looking to brainstorm a new identity for themselves. I will say this, those two have their act together! We really only went back and forth conceptually a few times before the logo was, well, pretty darn perfect for them. What we ended up with wasn’t that far from the initial sketch, which was intended to capture a bit of each of their personalities ( if you’ve seen Lori’s hair, you know what I’m talking about- this girl’s got curls!).

Lori spent a nice afternoon with me in my studio a few weeks back to snap some photos for a spotlight she did on their new identity & of my work. Gosh, I’m blushing just looking at it again! I love that she came to our home for the shoot. Being in my own environment made it feel more casual, and probably helped avoid a lot of those ‘deer in headlights’ moments (ok, Liam needed a little warming up). And they are darn good at capturing the perfect moments too! Go check out their completely adorable portfolio at lorianderin.com.

My studio buddy. Love him!

card sale!

kellyaplace — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 18:31:56 +0000

Trying to clear out of some cards from past years to help inspire new designs and hopefully increase production. Head over to my sale page to catch some bargain cards – maybe you’ll even snag some of the remaining valentines!