Wishing you a lovely weekend, filled with lots of spring blooms and fresh air.
– Colleen

{image via my Instagram, @colleenellse}

What a gorgeous letterpress shop!  Check out Studio on Fire’s new studio space over on Felt & Wire – and take a look at some of their work as well.

{images shown via Felt & Wire, belong to Studio on Fire}

These photos from Katie Quinn Davies (of What Katie Ate) of The Grounds (Australia) are so beautiful it hurts.  That food is making me so hungry!  Wish it wasn’t on the opposite side of the world, I’d love to visit.

{images shown taken by Katie Quinn Davies for The Grounds}

I love these Save-the-Dates on Oh So Beautiful Paper!  As a gardener at heart, I’ve always wanted to convince a client to use plantable paper as an option to print on.  Maybe not a great idea for the invites themselves, but perfect for Save-the-Dates to set a fun & thoughtful tone for the wedding day.  The custom garden marker included is perfect!  Kudos to Lowcountry Press for the design & printing.

(Psst!  There’s even a video of the process on Oh So Beautiful Paper’s post! Check it out!)

{images via Oh So Beautiful Paper; photography by Pat Furey Photography}

Some lovely maps from artist Oliver Jeffers.  Check out his entire portfolio here.

Found via Emma Dime for Oh Happy Day.

{images shown belong to Oliver Jeffers}

Wow, this week was a whirlwind!  Is it just me or is life getting a wee bit hectic lately?  I’m helping my cousin move this weekend but am hoping to get some serious design work done over the weekend – it just didn’t happen this work week.  When everything gets a little nutty, I look at my thank you notes that I’ve strung above my desk… “go get ‘em’s” to “thanks a bunch” to “you’re great” – all from friends and clients.  Helps to keep me motivated and stay positive!  I have a big change planned to implement in the next two months and it’s gonna take a whole lotta work to get done on top of everything else… stay tuned!  I’m so excited to share with you in the weeks to come.

Hope whatever your plans are for the weekend, you have a wonderful one!
- Colleen

{image shown via my instagram, @colleenellse}

Drop-dead gorgeous flowers from Sarah Winward of Honey of a Thousand Flowers.  Found via recommendation by Amy Merrick on BHLDN.

{images shown belong to Honey of a Thousand Flowers}

Right before my first wedding fair (actually the same week it was happening, to be honest), I realized I didn’t have enough business cards to give away at the event – ha!  Great.  On top of everything else I had to do that week, I had to squeeze in even more to my printing schedule.  And as much as I liked my old business cards, I realized they weren’t that practical – I noticed when stacked, the blue side of my cards would often rubbed off onto the opposite side (clean) side.  So rather than reprint my existing ones,  I of course decided it would be the best time to redesign new ones (I’m notorious in my family for creating more work than necessary for myself).  But, why not just do it right if you have to do it anyways… right?

Inspired by several cards I collected from last year’s NSS, I went with a square format on Crane Lettra Duplex: super thick and super soft.  I also wanted my logo to be blind printed, but it needed a little “oopf” to it, so a teeny, tiny bit of transparent grey was added to emphasize the shadows of the impression.  I was so pleased with how they turned out, that it was definitely worth the last minute work!

{for more of my letterpress work, check out my Flickr}

Was so excited to discover letterpress studio Moglea today on Oh So Beautiful Paper.  These are such lovely invites, I love the folk illustrations and the color palette.  Love finding new (to me, that is) talented people.

{images shown belong to Moglea}

Holy cannoli, it’s been 3 years (officially tomorrow) since I’ve started craft lovely.  At times I’ve struggled with what to write about, and other times I’ve had so many ideas and topics that I’ve had to write days in advance.  One things is consistent: I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the weekly habit of writing and sharing in this space, especially when it becomes a conversation and I hear back from my readers.  It’s made me a more aware designer and it’s made me appreciate the lovely things in the blogging community and in my own life.

Thanks for sticking with me and making it through another year of blogging!  Here’s to many more…
– Colleen

{image shown from my perfect parties set on Flickr}