For the longest time I told myself that we would not have letterpress invitations, even though I love letterpress printing. I once had a fleeting dream to go back to school for book arts, but then decided I couldn’t stomach the tuition for art school. I chose library school instead. Books are still involved, but unfortunately no presses or ink or double-sided tape for me. [Random geeky fact un-related to weddings, did you know there is such a profession as a book arts librarian?]

I have collected shot glasses for our entire marriage, so it was only obvious that shot glasses should be our favors for the vow renewal.  After doing lots of research, I came across a tutorial on Weddingbee for goccoing on glass and set off to create my own custom etched shot glasses.  Here they are, encased in their custom handmade …

Following a June filled with invitation construction, we needed a break from the Gocco. But this past weekend — the last one before the wedding! — we got reacquainted with our old friend.

Project #1: Cocktail Napkins

My mom suggested we add our monogram to red and orange cocktail napkins to use during the cocktail hour and to distribute with our cupcakes …

About a month ago I made thank you cards. Lots and lots of them. With lined envelopes, of course. I love sending paper cards. Writing them feels a little decadent, and opening the mailbox to a pretty envelope makes my day. Some of my friends send wonderful mail, so I have a set standard already.

I again used the pewter design …

In November EAD held a DIY contest, and E. encouraged me to enter my invitations, still in progress. Oh sure, I said, If I finish them soon! E., I totally did not finish them soon. Ladies- (And gentlemen? If you include DJ and one brother) I finished printing the maps on July 17, the night before we mailed them. Expert …

I’m not entirely sure when I decided I “needed” to Gocco some personalized cocktail napkins, but it was quite some time ago…months ago, in fact. And just when I had decided the cocktail napkins could be pushed to the back burner, Heather (who is my wedding day twin!) posted photos of her awesome cocktail napkins and I immediately knew personalized …

I’m sure you’ve all been on the edges of your computer chairs waiting to see our final invitations! Well, I hate to disappoint, but they’re not quite ready for prime time. To be honest, Nick and I have had little time to work on them lately, what with showers and parties.

I may not be ready to show you the finished …

How do girls getting married in just over a month spend their weekend? Crafting, of course! I’ve been working on a lot of easy but time consuming projects this weekend. Table name signs, escort cards, M’s wedding gift, and a mock up of our ceremony programs so I can start trimming down the stock for the covers and laying out …

Parrott Design Studio is one of my favorite invitation studios.  Sarah Parrott (the designer and namesake behind Parrott Design Studio) specializes in custom letterpress and screenprinted invitations and stationery.  Sarah has a lovely design style that incorporates vintage graphics and floral imagery – I literally “ooh” and “aah” over each new project that she posts on her blog and website:

Last we chatted I told you about my reluctance to take the Gocco out of its perfectly packed box. But it had to be done. So I spent many hours reading tips on Weddingbee and right here on EAD. I watched videos on YouTube, and I found a very detailed tutorial on Flickr.

There are so many resources out there, and …

Last Friday I traveled to my parents’ house with a Gocco, a Xyron, an embosser, 8 lbs. of paper, and a whole lot of anticipation!

As much as I want to jump right in and tell you all about our first experience with the Gocco, first I need to set the stage.

Nick and I love homespun wedding details, and so our …

While I am not a believer that wedding favors are necessarily required, I fell completely in love with these cookie bundles tied with manilla shipping tags Kat (AKA Mrs. Cherry Pie) made for her recent Montana wedding and decided to create a version of my own as my first Gocco project after having finally scored a Gocco of my own.

I …