Oh, Hello...

Well, hello there! First things first, if you guys haven't liked my page on Facebook or started following me on Twitter, you need to do that because I am ALL over those things! You will be way more up to date on all of my new paper creations and more importantly, get to see pictures of Rudy doing his thing. I'm BAD at updating my blog. Bad, bad. 

Anyways, I'm not sure if you've heard but I have become OBSESSED with watercolors. I loved them when I was in elementary school and I have rekindled that love times a million. I can't put them down. Now, don't be fooled. I am NO artist. I can bust out some awesome polka dots and mayyyyyybe a sunflower, but that's about it. For now... 

I made some super cute and super simple fill-in-the-blank invitations showcasing my watercolor talents and they're up on my Etsy shop so go take a look! I also added the cute "hello" cards on this post and a bunch of thank you cards using the World Market paper since those have become super popular! The shop is FULL so check it out. 

Also, I know it's probably pretty evident but I highly recommend World Market for paper. I love their paper and I just buy the rolls and go crazy with them. It's a cheaper way to test out some ideas rather than buying the individual sheets of scrapbooking paper and the patterns are SO wild and different.

That's all for now! Make sure we become BFFs on Facebook and Twitter (click the links on the left side of the page) so you can be the first to know when I attempt a watercolor elephant painting ;)

Metallic Fringe Wedding

Good morning! More importantly, HAPPY WEEKEND! I am up eaaaaaarly ready to get these two days started but first, lets get back to business and see Brittany's 3rd wedding invite design.

This concept was the very first thing that popped into my head when I started designing. Don't ask me why...it just happens! So, I have these fringe scissors, which are seriously the greatest things ever. You should go out and get a pair even if you have no desire to fringe anything. Trust me, you won't be able to stop. 

As you can see, I have two layers of paper (4 if you count the backing and wording) and I chose a gold glitter and a coral/salmon color. Remember I told you about her color scheme? Lots of bright colors, metallics, etc. I used my fringe scissors to fringe up the sides of the paper and then I just layered them on top of one another. Looks sooooooo cool in real life. And who can forget the "probably not drawn to scale, is that even the LA skyline?!" sketch at the bottom :) All in all, there are quite a few steps to this design but it's relatively easy to assemble, and looks pretty amazing in the end! What do you think??

**I'm also going to let you in on a little hint. I had originally planned to do this with tissue paper because I think fringed tissue paper looks awesome BUT one bump to the paper and it's totally bent :( Tissue paper is really fragile and while it looks good sittin' pretty on a desk, it would never hold up in the mail. I haven't given up on it, I just think sturdy paper is much better for this project, and it still looks good!

Cupcake Wrapper Wedding

It's time for day 2 of Brittany's wedding invitation choices! When we had one of our mini consultations, she referenced the tone of her invites as a "sophisticated child's party." How great is that? Told you she was creative...

Well, I kind of ran with that theme and as you know, I love me some cupcake wrappers. I found these at Michael's and they have a really cool, colorful design on them. In order to make them lie flat, I cut them to the center and it created a really cool fan look. (To see some birthday cards I made using this same technique, visit my Etsy shop!)

I originally wanted to have the cupcake fan in the center of the invite with the wording over the top but it wasn't cooperating with my vision so I ended up making it peek out of the corner. I love it! I added a burlap tie and there you have it! Another way to play this up and make it even more creative is to print the wording on colorful paper like a yellow or teal. I kept mine more neutral because I really wanted the colors in the wrapper to stand out but it's fun to play around with.

This design would be PERFECT for a picnic wedding, birthday party, baby shower...really anything! Since there are SO many options for cupcake wrapper designs, this is really one of those ideas that you could take anywhere. 

Hey there everyone! Another beautiful weekend down :( but I have some great new wedding invitations to share with you so :) for that!!

One of my greatest friends, Brittany, is getting married next year and I cannot WAIT for her wedding. Her style is so unique and she is soooooo creative so I know it's going to be an amazing night. I feel like I have a lot to live up to designing her wedding invitations but I'm feeling good about them so far! 

I made three designs for her to look through and get her juices flowing. You'll see that all of them have a common theme...the Los Angeles skyline. She wanted to incorporate that into her invites and since I'm not an artist, just a paper fanatic, I quickly sketched the skyline onto the invites. With that said, if you are from LA, don't knock my drawing! It's simply there for ideas sake and I will not be responsible for producing the final sketch...thank goodness ;)

This invite is super simple. The top 3/4 is just some cool paper I got at World Market, and the bottom is a crumpled paper bag. Most brides that come to me have no idea what they want until they see it, so I try to come up with a little of everything. Brittany's colors are really bright...teal, coral, metallics and golds...and she's also incorporating a lot of vintage aspects into her day like old glass bottles so I thought this invite encompassed a lot of those themes. 

So, there's option one! I'll be sharing with you the other two designs I came up with and then tell you which one she picked! 

I'm back! I'm feeling refreshed, invigorated and ready for some new card designs! I know I promised wedding invitations in my last post but I had to share this wedding card first. I made it for the wedding I went to in North Carolina last week and little did I know the theme was very rustic and included antique flowers, mason jars and burlap. PERFECT! My card fit right in...

I wanted to try something new so I attempted to wrap the braided burlap around the peach paper in a nice little border but that turned into a disaster. It was looking a little haphazard so I will need to go through a few more practice runs before I feel confident with that look :)  

Overall, I love how this card turned out and I will definitely be making a set to add to my Etsy shop. Weddings always sneak up on people so they're a great card to have on hand!

Guess what, guys?! I'm going on vacation tomorrow! I haven't been on a real vacation in almost 2 years to the day. As much as I dislike packing my 56593849873 hair products and hoping they don't explode in my bag, I love seeing new places and I can't wait to get going tomorrow!

This blog is about cards, not vacations, so I'll get to the good stuff. My only child dachshund, Rudy, is getting some minor surgery tomorrow and I decided to make the vet a thank you card for everything she has done for him. To say he's a medical handful would be an understatement so the fact that she actually said "he's my favorite dachshund" was a BIG DEAL. 

I've been really into doilies lately. I wanted to find some colored ones because I think the white ones are a little harsh sometimes, but Michael's only had these so I'm working with what I've got for now. I folded the doily over the spine of the card so it carries on to the back which I really love. I showed it to Rudy and he seemed pretty interested in sniffing it out so I take that as a seal of approval.

With that said, if you want to see what happens to my hair in the humidity, follow me on Instagram (Richelle Hawley) and I'll keep you updated on my vacation adventures. If not, I will be back soon and I'll show you some great wedding invitations I've been working on!

Whoa...it's been way too long!! I promise I will never ditch you like this again. Except for maybe next week...I'm going to North Carolina for a wedding!! I promise I will come back with new inspiration though. 

Speaking of inspiration, I moved last week, hence the lack of new posts. Luckily the new home of "Richelle's Paperie" provides ALL KINDS of new scenery so I'm pretty excited about that. Lots of birds, lots of trees, oodles of dachshunds!! I'm in heaven.

Anyways, I got this owl stamp on sale at Michael's a couple of weeks ago and I swear I have been hearing owls in my sleep. He's been haunting my dreams so I knew I needed to get moving on making a card based around this little guy. 

My aunt is visiting and she actually gave me the inspiration for this design! In typical Richelle fashion, I had visions of doilies and burlap floating around my head but she is a teacher and she said that teachers are always getting surprise gifts from parents, students, etc. so they're always in need of thank you cards. She suggested something really simple that she can keep in her desk and grab in a hurry, yet something that still looks handmade and unique. Teachers are some of the craftiest people I know so it's only appropriate that their thank you cards reflect their style.

I stamped the brown owl on a crumpled paper bag and used this really neat floral paper from Michael's as a background. I used a "thank you" stamp in corresponding brown ink and there you have it! They are so simple, yet they have a little extra "oomp" that plain store bought cards do not have. 

I added them to my Etsy shop so go take a look! I'm also having a little summer sale on Etsy so if you're in the market for some cards they are all 50% off! All of this sweet, sweet sunshine called for a sale!