Westwind Days

Halloween Soiree Invitation for Sarah

2010-10-11T19:57:00.004-04:00

Sarah recently purchased this invitation for her family's Halloween party. I think it turned out "spooktacular" and I hope Sarah is equally as pleased!

Halloween Soiree Invitation - Custom Printable - $10.00

Friday Favorites 8.6.10

2010-08-06T17:00:00.002-04:00

I heart New Jersey necklace - $50
Etsy seller: truche

Call me Softly 12x8 print - $25.00

Etsy seller: TinaCrespo

Sterling and Moonstone ring - $65
Etsy seller: ThirtySixTen

French Rose Pillow - $32

Etsy seller: dedeetsyshop

The Urban Collection Four 4x4 Fine Art Prints - $18
Etsy seller: urbandesign

(All copyrights for all photos belong to their respective owners. I do not claim any of the copyrights for any of the images contained in this blog post.)

Valentine's Day

2010-01-17T19:41:00.002-05:00

I love Valentine's Day! L - O - V - E ! Ever since I was a little girl and my mom would give us one of those cute little heart shaped boxes of chocolates with our favorite cartoon character on the front. Even into high school when I would sit in homeroom while the "candy grams" or hot pink artificially dyed carnations were being delivered, anxiously anticipating mine and trying to guess who would send one to me. My husband accepts this as one of my little quirks and he always tries his best to make Valentine's Day fun and special. A few years ago he gave me a beautiful white gold and diamond heart shaped necklace and I've worn it darn near everyday since then, very rarely taking it off, because I love it so much. Last year was our first Valentine's Day as husband and wife. Although we didn't celebrate on the actual holiday, he gave me home a velvet box of chocolates, had flowers delivered to me and gave me a handmade card. The next weekend, he took me out to a delicious dinner at our favorite tiny little authentic Italian place. He's a keeper and this is one of the many reasons why I'm so in love with him.

Since I love this holiday so much, I (of course) had to start early working on designs for cards to put in the Etsy shop. Valentine's Day is one of the very few days of the year you can get away with going overboard on all of the obnoxious and sickeningly sweet shades of pink. And trust me...I do! Here are a few of the designs I currently have for sale. For more, be sure to check out my Etsy shop!

Friday Favorites

2009-12-11T08:43:00.003-05:00

To get me into the swing of posting regularly, I think I'm going to start doing my "Friday Favorites" each week. I have done one favorites entry previously, but I'd like to make it a regular occurrence around here.

In the spirit of the holiday season, this week's favorites are all going to be stocking stuffers! Today, these are all going to be from Etsy, but in the future I will switch things up a bit!

1. Pure Mint Vegan Lip Balm from LaConchitaNaturals ($3.99)

2. Lego Brick Crayons - Set of 5 from GaddyNipperCrayons ($2.50)

3. Metropolitan Tapestry Business Card Holder from sweetsophistication ($12.00)

4. 20 Hand Cup Upcycled Guitar Picks from CattitudeCreations ($6.00)

1. Whipped Soaps - 4 two ounce whips from FairyBubbles ($14.00)

2. Makeup Brush Roll Organizer from asoftblackstar ($16.99)

3. Hand Knit iPod/iPhone Case from onaroll ($16.00)

4. Sterling Silver Family Necklace from StephieMC ($40.00)*

All photos are copyright their respective shop owners, please have courtesy.

(*I actually want one of these myself quite badly!)

A Very Special Boy's 1st Birthday!

2009-12-07T17:06:00.001-05:00

I cannot believe that in about a month, my nephew is going to be turning a year old. I know I keep saying it, but time is flying by! My sister has been planning his party since about August and we've gone back and forth so many times since then with different ideas for the design of his invitations. She finally picked the One-Derful Boy 1st Birthday and I got to work on an invitation that would compliment her purchased paper goods, etc.

My sister was, by far, the most annoying customer I've had since starting this business. But, my nephew is my little boyfriend and my most favorite little guy. I love him so much that it was all worth it in the end.

We decided to do a two-sided card design that measures about 4x8. I'm loving this design so much that I think I'm going to start offering it in the shop. In the meantime, if you're interested in this design - or any others - shoot me an email to info@westwinddays.com!

(Click on the images to enlarge.)

Wrap Around Labels for Aubrie

2009-12-01T16:13:00.012-05:00

Back in September, we did a set of wrap around address labels for Aubrie. She and her fiance are getting married this month and wanted these labels to jazz up their envelopes a little bit. Aubrie recently sent me photos of the finished product, and I think they look great!

Best wishes, Aubrie and Christopher!

The Website

2009-11-30T14:11:00.000-05:00

Our website is up and running! Right now it is just a mere shell of a site, but I'm working very hard to perfect it and get an operational shopping cart up. At the moment, the site is more of a "click through" that will take you to the Etsy shop for purchasing. But, it's a start.

Check it out...http://www.westwinddays.com/!

Most Popular Items

2009-11-28T13:46:00.000-05:00

There are two items in my shop that are, without a doubt, the most popular items. The first is the Tinkerbell Birthday Party Invitation and the other is the Camouflage Birthday Invitation. We've sold more of these invitations than anything else in the shop. These are both super cute invitations and perfect for your little one's Birthday bash!

Here are a couple of examples.

Emily's Halloween Wedding Invitation

2009-10-21T23:16:00.002-04:00

Emily contacted us and was interested in our Halloween Invitation with damask background and candelabra graphic. She had an awesome piece of artwork that was painted for her and she wanted to replace our candelabra design with her original artwork and use the invitation for a Halloween wedding. Since we're always happy to do custom work, this wasn't a problem at all. We shrunk down Emily's painting and inserted into the top of the invitation. I have to say, I was very pleased with the outcome...and so was Emily and her husband to be. Best wishes to the two of you!

Square Favor Tags

2009-10-18T19:04:00.000-04:00

One of the new items we're offering in our Etsy shop is Square Favor Tags in a damask pattern. We recently did some of these tags for Dachan & Roschia, who are getting married this coming November 14. (Which happens to be my first wedding anniversary, so it's a date near and dear to my heart.) Roschia and Dachan went with a timeless and elegant black & white color scheme. Congratulations to you both!

More of Melissa's Wedding Goodies

2009-10-13T09:22:00.000-04:00

As you may recall from this post, my #1 repeat customer is getting married next month. She just sent me a photo of her favor box labels in action and I must say, they look so good! Here, take a look for yourself...

Melissa also decided that she wanted a little sign to hang on her card box, so this is what we came up with. I like it, and it reminds me of the cute little "sign" that I had on my birdcage cardbox at my own wedding almost one year ago.

These are a few of my favorite things.

2009-10-01T08:56:00.001-04:00

I like to shop. A lot. I also like to window shop. If I was allowed to buy anything and everything that I want, these are a few of the things that I would buy. Found browsing Etsy, of course. (This particular grouping has no common "theme", it's just a bunch of random stuff I'm digging right now. Very random. Just like me.)

Made for Each Other Pillow Set- Customizable

diffractionfiber

The Dynamic Duo-1 Inch Buttons For Married Cool People

buttonempire

Madison Necklace - Pearl Cluster Crystal Pendant Blue Bridal

BGBJewelry

Lets Play Telephone ( set of 3- 5x7 prints) By Mikiep

mikiep

and i said YES

couragemylove

Melissa's Getting Married!

2009-09-26T11:28:00.011-04:00

Melissa has been my most loyal customer! She contacted me back in July for wrap around address labels for her wedding invitations. Since then we have also worked on escort cards, favor tags, menu cards, table number and a shower invitation. She has been an absolute joy and one of the sweetest people I've worked with. She and her fiance, Miguel, even won a contest recently for a day of coordination by Tina Molina Events because they had so many votes. I truly wish the best for the two of them on their wedding day.

Here are just some of the items that we've been hard at work on. Melissa has done all of the printing herself and also mounted her table numbers to cardstock that coordinates with their wedding colors.

Escort cards that will be hung from manzanita tree branches. There will also be coordinating "traditional" escort cards mixed in and placed on trays.

These favor tags will be put on the take out boxes for the candy buffet.

The wrap around address label that started it all!

Table numbers mounted to cardstock.

Business Cards for Kelly's New Shop

2009-09-25T21:15:00.000-04:00

It looks like our Floral Design Invitation is turning out to be pretty popular! Not only did Gina want it for her high school reunion, but Kelly recently contacted us to have the design incorporated into business cards for her new shop, Rubi Rogue. Next time you're in Australia, be sure to look her up and check out Rubi Rogue for classy ladies' fashions and accessories.

You can also find Kelly on Etsy. Her shop, Daughter of Pearl, is full of all sorts of gorgeous items such as pendants, clutch purses and embellished corsets. Be sure to stop by and see all of her lovely items.

I'm a winner!

2009-09-22T23:35:00.000-04:00

If you've never checked out the blog Give Away Today, you should do so now. I entered their give away yesterday for a $30.00 gift certificate from Southern Living at Home. No, I didn't win that. But, I did win a set of hand painted salt & pepper shakers from consultant Kristy Chuhaloff's blog. Yay me!

So...check out Give Away Today, check out Kristy's blog and check out Southern Living at Home.

(Photo graciously borrowed from Kristy's blog.)

Gina's High School Reunion Invitation

2009-09-15T20:38:00.000-04:00

Gina got in touch with us recently to do the invitation for her high school reunion. We based the design on our Floral Invitation and used her school's colors - green & gold. We provided Gina with a few different variations, but here is what she (with the help of her husband and their one year old son) came up with...

(As usual, click the image for a larger and more detailed view.)

Our Owl & Deer "Woodland Friends" Invitation

2009-09-04T14:45:00.000-04:00

Kristi saw our Owl & Deer Baby Shower Invitation and thought it would be perfect as a birthday party invitation for her daughter Phoebe. It just so happens that Lacey had the same idea for her son Jonah's 1st birthday! We are always more than happy to make changes or do custom work, so we couldn't wait to work on these invitations. Both Kristi & Lacey couldn't have been any sweeter to work with! Here is what we came up with for both of them. (Jonah's adorable little photo was added to his invitation, but I've blurred his face out for his privacy and the privacy of his mom.)

A Damask Monogram Logo for Carrianne

2009-08-21T14:06:00.000-04:00

Carrianne contacted us after seeing our Damask Wedding Monograms and wanted to modify one of the designs to be the logo on her photography blog. Being a photographer, Carrianne is familiar with Photoshop, so we supplied her with the "bare bones" and then she worked her own magic. Below is the blank slate we provided to Carrianne and then her finished product. Be sure to check out her photography blog - http://carriannephotography.blogspot.com/ and if you're in the Cary, IL area, you should definitely book her to shoot some photos for you!

A Holiday Party Save the Date

2009-08-18T13:40:00.000-04:00

My mother recently asked me to make a Save the Date for her company's annual holiday party. It was fun to work with Christmas colors in the middle of a heat wave. As my mother, she always loves everything I make, so of course she loved this.

Lynda's Damask Wedding Suite

2009-07-23T00:07:00.000-04:00

Lynda contacted us because she saw our Mocha & Sage Damask Wedding Invitation and thought it would be perfect for her upcoming wedding. Instead of doing the design in mocha and sage, however, we just did it in mocha and she found a beautiful sage paper that she was going to print on. Lynda needed an invitation & response card, place cards and a menu so we got right to work for her.

Damask Save the Date for Nikki

2009-07-10T10:08:00.000-04:00

Nikki originally saw our Damask Wedding Invitation and liked it, but wanted to use it as a Save the Date instead. So that's what we did. Originally she was going for an aqua theme, but changed her mind to black & white with champagne and peach.

Wrap Around Address Labels for Lea

2009-07-08T20:26:00.000-04:00

Lea is getting married soon and came to our shop looking for wrap around address labels for her wedding invitations. She was looking for a "vintage, rustic, simple" design in mostly yellow with some cream/beige accents. After several rounds of revisions and different ideas, this is what we came up with. I think they're lovely!

I have to admit, though, this one was one of my favorites.

(These pics are tiny. Click on them for the full size version to see all of the details.)

Andrielle's Damask Menu

2009-07-07T20:02:00.001-04:00

We were contacted by Andrielle, who like our Damask Wedding Invitations and was interested in using the same design as a menu card for her upcoming wedding. Andrielle's colors are lemon yellow and dark grey, so we made those changes to the pattern. Their menu is not fully ready yet, so we left the "guts" of the card blank so as to be filled in at a later date. This is what we were able to come up with.

A Bridesmaid's Luncheon Invitation for Erin

2009-07-06T18:42:00.000-04:00

Erin liked our Chandelier Invitation and wanted to use this design as an invitation for her Bridesmaid Luncheon. I love this chandelier graphic and think this came out super cute. Of course, all personal information is blurred out for Erin's privacy.

Ameisha's Custom Address Labels

2009-06-29T09:24:00.001-04:00

We were contacted by Ameisha to do return address labels for the invitations to a bridal shower she was throwing. The wedding colors are light pink and black & white damask, so she asked us to incorporate those into the label. Here is the finised product of what we came up with for her, the actual label measured 2 inches round.

Mocha & Sage Damask

2009-06-25T11:10:00.006-04:00

Last night we listed our "Mocha and Sage Damask Custom Wedding Invitation Suite". Boy is that a mouthful. I think this is one of our favorite designs. I truly enjoyed making this one and I said to the husband, "Husband, next time we get married, our colors are going to be brown and green and we are totally having this invite". Husband just groaned, as he does every time I tell him "next time we get married". Which I tell him frequently.

Here she is.

Dana's Last Name Monogram

2009-06-24T10:29:00.000-04:00

Dana saw our Last Name Monograms and was interested in purchasing one for her upcoming wedding. Her colors are chocolate brown, ivory and coral. She was a pleasure to work with and this is her resulting monogram.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T11:18:00.002-04:00

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there. Especially to my own Daddy and my husband. My daughters made adorable cards for their awesome (step)father and are now sitting on the floor making cards for their Pop Pop. We don't have a whole heck of a lot planned for today, we're just going to enjoy some quality family time.

Enjoy your weekend!

Notecards for Jane!

2009-06-19T23:49:00.001-04:00

My mom wanted me to design a set of small notecards for our dear Aunt Jane. I wanted something clean and cute and know that her favorite color is red. I sent several examples to my mom to choose from and this one was her favorite.

After making these and seeing how cute the finished product worked up, this design evolved into our listing for Personalized Notecards available in several different designs.

(Note: My mom reports that she printed these using Avery 5315 blank cards and they turned out great.)

I'm feeling lovey dovey.

2009-06-16T21:12:00.001-04:00

So I made another little quickie card and this time it's all about the love. Just a sweet little "I love you" is all you need to get the point across sometimes.

While I was at and still feeling the love, I also whipped up a damask wedding invitation. I can tell by my views and such that damask is still a pretty hot market, so I'm rolling with it. I made samples of this guy in 5 different color combos, but as always, this one is fully customizable. I like it. My hunky husband says it's "just lovely".

Another "Quickie Card"

2009-06-16T08:45:00.004-04:00

Good morning! Today is my best friend's birthday. I just cannot believe that we've been BFFs (best friends forever, duh) for about 16 years now. She has definitely been there with me through good times and bad and I absolutely love her!

Happy Birthday to you, Shanny!

Because it is Shannon's birthday, we decided to list a new birthday "quickie card" today. I was working on something yesterday, but my husband gave his feedback on it and it wasn't good. So that was scrapped. And now we have this. Just like the Father's Day cards, this little cutie also comes with a template for a coordinating envelope. Tah dah!

Father's Day

2009-06-12T10:28:00.004-04:00

Father's Day is only a little over a week away. Do you have a card for the special Dad in your life? Yesterday we listed what we're calling "quickie cards" just in time for Father's Day. Quickie cards are little A2 sized (5.5x4.25) cards that come with their own coordinating envelope template. Print both out, fold, sign a little message for Dad and VOILA! No standing in line at the Walgreens. No being bumped into in the card aisle at Target. Simple & quick...quickie cards.

We have 4 different designs for sale. Here are two.

Wrap Around Labels

2009-06-10T18:13:00.003-04:00

For our wedding in November, we used Stardream Metallic envelopes in Ruby. Our invites were, of course, DIY. I love my trusty Canon Pixma MP470, but I just wasn't sure she could handle printing a bajillion addresses on to those fabulously sparkling envelopes. And there was no way I was hand addressing them all with my chicken scratch handwriting. So, what's a girl to do? Wrap around labels! That's what!

Here are some not-so-great photos of completed envelopes with wrap around labels from our wedding.

We just listed some wrap around labels in the shop last night. Right now we have 4 different damask patterns to choose from.

Be on the lookout for another set to be listed any day now. The new set will be more "plain jane" than these snazzy damask labels! Here's a sneak preview...

Custom Monogram for Gillian

2009-06-06T20:27:00.000-04:00

We were contacted by Gillian to design a monogram that would go with the invitations she already had. The idea was based on a cirlce with 2 initials inside. Here are some of the designs we came up with for her.

Thanks, Gillian!

Monogram for Megan

2009-06-04T22:16:00.002-04:00

Megan recently purchased our m1 monogram for her August wedding. She was our first customer! As our little way of saying "thanks", we threw in an additional monogram at no charge.

Thanks Megan!

Welcome!

2009-05-28T13:23:00.001-04:00

Welcome to our new blog! Our Etsy shop specializes in custom digital designs and stationery. All of our items are fully customizable (color, font, wording, size, etc.) and can be adapted to an invitation, announcement, save the date...you name it.

A "digital design" is a greeting card, invitation, thank you note, etc. that you download at home and print. You have several options for printing. Our designs can be printed at home on heavy weight card stock or matte/glossy photo paper. Another option is to have our designs printed at a copy shop such as Kinko's or Staples. You can also have just about all of our designs printed through any photo lab. (I find that Sam's Club has very nice quality prints at a super low price!)

Our turnaround time is super quick! When you order one of our items, you will receive your digital proof within 24 hours. As soon as you OK your proof, we will send you an email with your high resolution digital file. By default, all of our items are sent as a JPG file but we are more than happy to send you a PDF or any other file format at your request.

We strive for happy customers and will work with you to make revisions until you are 100% satisfied with your card, invitation, monogram or other product!!

Feel free to email us at any time at thewestwinddays[@]gmail[.]com if you have something particular in mind but don't see it listed in our shop. We are always glad to work with you on a custom order!

Please see our Shop Policies page on Etsy for more information.

Remember to keep checking back often, we are adding new items all the time!