Merry Christmas

With Facebook, Pinterest, Instragram, etc...I find it difficult to also Blog! 

If anyone is still following, I wish you a Merry Christmas ~ all things Merry and Bright and a New Year full of Comfort and Joy.

 

Whimsical Monograms

This is a fun, whimsical monogram I created for a client to use for her program booklets and stationery note cards.  I had one of my favorite books, The Perfectly Imperfect Home - illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators - Virgina Johnson, lying on my table and happened to notice the end pages were the same color. I love these designs together!

~ but I also like the design combined with a classical blue pattern~

...so, whatever your style, you can always incorporate a fun monogram into your stationery wardrobe!

note cards: olivia

  I have been completely obsessed with orange and navy this year ~ from stationery and clothing to the flowers I have planted and purchased.

A former bride/client commissioned me to calligraph her daughter's name for her personal stationery.  I had them engraved in a tangy tangerine that would be fun and perky for a little girl to use for many years to come .

Last week I received several new samples of letterpress patterns from Smock, a stationery line I carry and I'm seriously smitten with!  When I was photographing the note cards, the Smock cards were on the same table and I immediately knew they would make a snappy backdrop for these note cards.

Also, the same day, a friend sent a note to me (the orange paisley card) so I had to throw it into the mix too ... as well as an orange zinnia from my garden.

I will be posting more of these eye-popping patterns and note cards this month.

~~~


added note ~ it is really difficult to see that the pieces are engraved or letterpress without clicking on the images at about 200%.  is this a 'blogger' issue?

Invitation Suites ~ Piazza

This is an invitation suite I designed a while back, and like many, have not had time to post.  The true colors are more like the photo below ~ with my lettering engraved in a beautiful café au lait ink.

I love the way the colors repeat themselves in her luscious wedding sash. Isn't it gorgeous!

I will be showing more from this elegant wedding in a featured wedding coming soon.

~~~

last two photos by LaCour

Monogrammed Gift Enclosures

~Give the gift of personalized gift enclosures.~

Letterpress cards with custom calligraphic monogram and painted edging.

These beautiful cards could be designed to include a name, illustration or whatever you like as your personal logo for gift enclosures, calling cards or business cards.  The design could be a mixture of a typeface and calligraphy, a custom illustration or a motif from the fabulous fine lines offered at A Fine Line.

They make the perfect accessory to any stationery wardrobe.

monogram designed by Dana Cochran

also available in other wonderful colors, shapes and sizes

December Promotion ~ Engraved Wedding Invitations

~Enjoy 15% off Engraved Wedding Invitations~

available with or without calligraphy

you may use a wedding font

Invitation Suites ~ Stice

Customer review:

Thank you Dana for doing such an amazing job on our custom calligraphy invitations and envelopes. While we knew we wanted something unique, we never dreamt that our stationery would be so beautiful. Upon receiving their invitations, friends and family called just to tell us how gorgeous the entire package, both invitations and envelopes, were! One friend said she felt the invitation was so elegant that she envisioned she would be attending Cinderella's wedding. I'm not exaggerating, our invitations have been a huge conversation piece and it's all thanks to you! My parents and I could not be happier with your service throughout designing, ordering and sending out our invitations.

Thank you! Kate Stice

ps...One friend, a design friend none-the-less, said she waited to RSVP because she even loved the reply card so much that she had it, along with all the other pieces, on her fridge to admire. Her husband confirmed, "I've never seen someone stroke paper the way Anna stroked your invitations." :)

Review left on The Knot Wedding Network:

Dana at A Fine Line Studio was great to work with! She did our wedding invitation, our thank you cards and our envelopes. They turned out stunning! I even came to her with an idea for an envelope format/style she'd not tried before and she did it for us! It looked great! We received tons of compliments and it really set the tone for the wedding.

The bride asked me to address her envelopes in a layout she had seen in Martha Stewart Weddings and I agreed to try. I must give credit to Maria Thomas for the original idea of this design.

I had such fun working with this bride on her wedding invitations.  Thank you, Kate!

Photograhy by the amazing Jeremy Russell. Please go to his blog to see more photos! Thank you, Jeremy!

Invitation Suites ~ Lowrey

I love everything about this custom suite I created for a bride that was married this past weekend. 

She wanted a vintage, elegant feeling, for her invitation suite with a unique custom motif she could use throughout her wedding.

The calligraphy was engraved with a dark chocolate ink and combined with a chocolate tissue envelope liner ~ and of course, I addressed the envelopes with the same ink color and lettering style.

Since it was a Fall wedding, she asked me to design a unique, autumnal leaf which we could use starting with her save the date to her wedding programs and beyond.  She told me she was having it carved into an ice sculpture. I can't wait to get some professional photos to share ~ as well as to see myself.

I painted the leaf on the program, to coordinate with the hand-dyed ribbon I found for her, in the same shade of plum she was using at the wedding and reception.  (It really was not as pink as it looks in the photo - but more of a watercolor wash of the ribbon color.)

I loved seeing the ribbons lined up, as I packaged them, and look forward to seeing how she displayed them.

Here are her sweet comments about the process.

~I hope it was a perfect day for her and the groom. ~

I can’t say enough about Dana’s work except that I am blessed with the fact that I found her work online as I was searching vendors in Asheville one day. Chad and I both love visiting the mountains and Asheville in general, and decided early on that we wanted Asheville as our wedding destination.

Dana- as soon as I saw your work online I knew I wanted to have you as my wedding calligrapher. I knew I wanted to have an elegant and traditional wedding, but with a creative, vintage twist. I have had a hard time putting into words what I have visualized, but I can say I could not be happier with what you have done! It is actually my favorite part of the wedding so far and I think it has inspired a lot of my plans. And all the while, you have been so absolutely wonderful to work with and professional that I feel like I am your only client which I know is not the case because you are so freaking talented! Thank you for all you have done! 

Birth Announcement

One of my former brides asked me to create a sweet birth announcement for her baby girl.

Engraved in Blossom with a darling dragonfly motif at the top and envelopes lined with a pink tissue ~ they are precious. 

...and I think she loved them too.

DANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh my goodness, i am FREAKING OUT over the announcements! they are so beautiful! i could not love them more. thank you so very much for creating the most elegant, perfect announcement for my baby girl. i am so excited!!!

my sincerest appreciation,
blair

Invitation Suites ~ Felts

This invitation suite was designed using my flourished Spencerian script. I created it a few years ago for a bride who wanted a very elaborate and intricate invitation.  It was later submitted to a magazine and my engraver was kind enough to engrave in in several colors.  I am posting only a few.  They were all so gorgeous, but the French Blue, Copper and Sweet Pea were my favorites.  Other yummy choices were Pink Petal, Wisteria and Chocolate.

  

Fête with Fabric ~ Martha Stewart Weddings Summer Issue

I was so excited when Martha Stewart Weddings asked me to calligraph seating cards for their Summer 2011 issue.

 This is a page from the magazine, showing a portion of the cards.

I love doing this fun script!

Or you can go here to see more...

 ...and if you look really, really closely, you can see the dessert signs I made.

~Bonne Fête~
*(I think that can translate to Happy Celebration, Happy Birthday or Happy 4th of July, so whichever ~ have a Fun, Festive week)*

Featured Wedding ~ Emily & John

What an adorable, sweet couple Emily and John are!  I had the great pleasure of working with Emily and her mother last year.  As I said in the "Sneak Peek", the couple were both students at Wake Forest but did not meet until they studied abroad, some years later, in Sicily.

After leaving Sicily, John wrote to Emily in his journal every day for a month and later sent this journal to her.  He also sent her a journal on their wedding day, as well as a watercolor of the breathtaking Mediterranean view they had as students in Erice, Sicily.  How romantic is that?

I love Emily's dress, which was designed by Monique Lhullier.  The tulle skirt is detachable, making it appear that she wore an entirely different dress at the reception.  So gorgeous!

Rings by Tiffany & Co.

Breathtaking bouquets by The Bloom Room

John and Emily were married at the Basilica of St. Lawrence.The Catholic church has the largest freestanding elliptical dome in North America.  The stunning stained glass windows were made in Munich, Germany.
Wedding programs by me ~ A Fine Line Studio

Asheville Historic Trolley transported the wedding party from the Basilica to the Biltmore Forest Country Club for the reception.

With Sicily being so dear to the couple, each table was named after different regions they visited in Sicily, which I calligraphed onto each hand-painted table number I created.  I also calligraphed guests names on tiny cards, which were tied to little vases or pinned to pears. I also designed the couple's married monogram and used it at the top of each menu.

Tara Jordan, the amazing event designer with Wedding with Tara, sprinkled more touches of Sicily throughout the wedding reception with an assortment of gelato, served along with the wedding cake...

...and Limoncellos given as favors.

Emily dancing with her dad as her sweet mother watches on.  I have to say, Emily's mother is truly one of the sweetest mothers I have ever, ever worked with!  She was so appreciate and complimentary of everything I did for them. I have the kindest notes from her, which I saved and will always treasure.
I love what Emily's mother told me - she said they were "thrilled Emily and John found one another and this is coming from her parents who married later in life and told Emily she could not even date until she was 30!"

The couple honeymooned in the Turks and Caicos and now live in an old candy factory, converted to loft apartments where she is working on her Ph.D. in psychology (she is also a ballet dancer) and he is in law school.
I have no doubt, they will live happily ever after!

I hope you have enjoyed this spectacular photography by Abigail Seymour. Click on each image to better see her work.  I really had a difficult time narrowing my choices to only these!

~Have a beautiful weekend.~