Summer 2011 Weddings

Um...Yeah...It has been a while. But xowyo paper and press has been way busy this spring with invitation work. We just received some pictures from Sara of her invitations and seating cards for her Missouri wedding on a winery. Check it!

Happy New Year

This is just one image from a new line of cards xowyo paper and press will be debuting this month. And yes, we added to our name because we are now doing lots of letterpress, so stay tuned. We also have a new website and Facebook page, all the stuff we've been meaning to do but never had time for because we were so busy in 2010.

As we start the new year, Jenny and I are thankful for all the brides, moms and other clients who gave us a chance and hired a fledgling company. We cannot believe how successful we were during our first year in business, especially because we bought just one ad. Last year, we wanted to grow slowly and by word of mouth. This year is a different story. We already have several weddings booked for 2011 and some other fun stuff coming up. Thanks for your support!

Sew cool

One of our wedding invitations was featured today on Style Me Pretty. This was a big project. Cutting, ironing and sewing 225 muslin cloths for Claire's Arkansas wedding. I made two trips to Idaho Falls to find the perfect shade of orange thread. Thank heavens we didn't have to fray these invites. For the rest of the wedding, check out Abby's blog post.

The end is near

Jenny and I promised to keep this project a secret until the bride's wedding was over. Sita was married at an old barn at the base of the ski slopes at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort on March 6. She arrived at the barn in a horse-drawn sleigh. Some of her guests even skied to the ceremony. For her table assignments, Sita wanted vintage ski posters with sayings that meant something to her and her now-husband.

This was the one at our table. The North Hoback is a place at the mountain resort. And my husband would probably kill me if I explained why exactly the North Hoback is so special to some people. He's been spending A LOT of time there now that there's just two weeks left of the ski season....if the snow can make it that long. I've learned that he, and many of my friends, start getting end-of-season affective disorder every year about this time.

So Jenny and I are turning this image into a poster. We've already had a few orders placed. Maybe this will get people through November, when ski season begins again.

Best, New

Every week I usually find something that I label the "best, new" thing. Usually, my "best, new" for the week pertains to food.

As I sit here, I have just discovered my "best, new" for the week. And it's only Tuesday night! Right now, I am gobbling a piece of crusty bread, layered with ricotta, basil, these slow-roasted tomatoes, balsamic and the above lemon salt. My husband is down in Salt Lake City, where he is helping a museum take down and recrate a massive Victorian art exhibit. So you can see why this is a perfectly acceptable dinner.

I discovered this dried lemon salt at the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmer's Market last summer on one of my trips for my wedding gown fitting. I bought three jars of salt, including rosemary and lavendar, but this dried lemon, oh my, it's the best. But it is even better when it's mixed with the spicy basil and the sweet, deep tomato taste. Swoon.

Another day

It's day two of my promise to blog regularly. Hooray for sticking with it thus far.

The above are some pockets we made from jean fabric, then sewed on the Tetons outline on one. The other (the one underneath) is a "W" for the groom's last name. These are samples we made for a bride who is still deciding whether or not to use them. She wants her invitations to be casual, different and fun, kind of like her wedding. But she doesn't want anything overtly western. My favorite is the one on the right with pinking sheared edges. A label with the bride and groom's name is sewed on the upper right corner. We made pockets for this bride because she needs something to package all her pieces together so they won't get lost. This gal has two to three events a day for four days. Plus, she needs invites, RSVP's and maps. I would lose it all, but this allows guests to keep everything easily organized.

I think they'd be perfect for anything: a casual wedding, rehearsal dinner or, really, any Jackson Hole event. You could package smaller invites completely inside the pocket, or leave something showing from the top.

Please excuse our photography. Our project this summer is to get everything professionally shot. Until then, our focus is getting all our work finished!

At it again

It's the first day of a new month, and I have resolved to blog more regularly. Jenny and I have been so busy working our day jobs and completing orders in our spare time for, get this, 13 clients. I am so amazed at how busy we've become, especially because all these people came through word-of-mouth.

We are shipping off our first big order this week: 125 hand-sewn cloth pockets with invites, maps and RSVP cards. Here's a sample.