{Calligraphy Monday} Black & Gold Envelopes

Hello and Happy Monday 2 Hearts readers!

We have some gorgeous black and gold envelopes to share with you today…

These go with some beautiful Gatsby-inspired wedding invitations we'll show you on Wednesday…but for now, enjoy the sneak peek!

How are you spending this rainy Monday? 

A Royal Baby Shower

We recently had the privilege of designing a baby shower invitation for a royalty themed shower.

This concept excited us and seemed appropriate with all the talk of the

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge expecting their first baby this year as well!

The mother-to-be envisioned royal blue and gold in a sophisticated and classic design, with a high tea sort of feel.

The first layer is a square-shaped shimmer gold card stock.

The next layer (and it's sort of hard to see in the pictures), is a square card stock wrapped in a royal blue silk fabric--giving the invitation a richness that's not your every day invitation.

Fit for royalty, you might say :)

Matching royal blue envelopes were lined with shimmer gold paper.

We designed a "family crest" style motif as the focus for the top,

incorporating the family's last name initial.

The type styles were kept classic and sophisticated, with just the mother-to-be's name in a script font.

The whole invitation was wrapped in a sheer champagne ribbon.

The (royal) icing on the cake is the gold calligraphy embellishing each envelope, notifying the recipient of their official invitation to this "royal" affair.

We like to think an invitation such as this would be perfect for Kate Middleton herself
(if she was having a little prince, that is).

If she were having a princess, we might modify a few details here and there to give it slightly softer, more feminine feel, but still keeping with the timelessness and sophistication of a "royal" affair.

To see more royal baby shower inspiration, visit our Pinterest board:

And now a ROYAL treat for our readers!

Do you think William and Kate will have a little prince or a little princess?

Tell us your prediction in the comments below and......

We will pick one comment at random to win one dozen cupcake toppers of your choice (for either a baby shower or a birthday)!

{Photo courtesy of Sweet E's Bake Shop}

Submit your guesses by this Sunday night (April 21, 2013) at midnight (PST), and on Monday, April 22nd, we will announce the winner here on the blog! Make sure you check back here Monday to see if you're the winner! :)

What We're Working On Wednesday

Hey all!

Just thought we'd share a photo of some of the wedding invitations we've been addressing lately...

Jillian did the calligraphy with white ink on kraft envelopes...and the couple getting married provided the vintage stamps, each of which hold a special meaning to them.

The effect is quite stunning, don't you think?

Addresses written in calligraphy give your invitation that extra 'wow' factor; it's elegant and personalized all at the same time.

Let us know if you have a special event coming up that could use that extra calligraphy touch!

Sexy Chic Stationery

Just had a request for some personalized stationery for a gift to some newlyweds. We fell in love with how these turned out. We used a Japanese silk screen paper of gold circles on a black background with white dots as a liner with a Italian cream stock of paper and envelopes

 This makes a one-of-a-kind gift for the happy couple to use for those very special thank you's to those very important people.

 A nice mixture of masculine and feminine for a couple's stationery.