Vectorizing crash course 101

Ever since I've blogged about my invitations, I've been receiving emails left and right about my chandelier illustration. I guess I didn't explain it in detail, so I figured - what the heck, here is Flamingos Vectorizing crash course. Now I'm no pro at this, I literally learned about Illustrator CS2 Live trace option at the beginning of the year (thanks: Bird of Paradise, Lemon and Plumeria)

A reader asked me if I could vectorize an image for her. A chandelier of course. Here are the steps to have an vector with no needs of doing hours of tracing with the pen tool. Hurray for live trace!!!

Now to be able to trace any image you obviously need to have the software. Adobe Illustrator CS2 or up, for those of you who don't have it, you can download a free trial : here.

Next step is you need to find an image. A photograph, illustration whatever you want. But sometimes the live trace tool can be a little funky so you basically need to do several trials and errors. Once you get the hang of it, I promise you will love it.

Step 1 - Open your image in Illustrator
Step 2 - Select your image and go to Options > Live Trace > Tracing Options



Step 3 - In the tracing options tool box theres the option to lower or higher the Threshold (meaning more or less black). If you click on the preview box and play with the intensities you will see what your vector will look like. Once you've gotten to a shape you like, click on the Trace button (in blue)



Step 4 - Now you have a vectorized image but you do not have the clipping path.
Select your image and go to Object > Tracing Options > Expand

Your vector has been created in black and white, but if you want to be able to put your image on a colored background, you don't want the white showing.

Step 5 - To remove all the white from the vector choose the white arrow tool found in your tool bar. Click on a white part in your image (usually the center is a good choice) then go to Select > Same > Fill Color once you see that all the white parts are selected press delete.

Voila your vector is done, now you must save it as an EPS file format.
To do so go to File > Save As > EPS

EPS files can be used in majority of Adobe programs (like InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop) If you want to change the color of your vector, its always better to do so in the original program. Changing the color can be done using Photoshop. Basically its what your most comfortable with - in the end.

Enjoy!

Merci beaucoup

We had a wonderful wedding... and its true what they say "Its the best day of your life" Honestly it couldn't have been more perfect. (Well for one exception- but still) Our guests were extremely impressed with everything and we were so happy to share it with them. They obviously deserved lots of thank yous for the compliments and their generous wedding gifts.

I though a nice Thank you card design was what they deserved for the least. So I went ahead and designed these:

Front

Back

Since I had both french and English invitations, I didn't want to have the hassle of 2 languages so I simply wrote a "Merci" I think the English people get the point. Right?

I'm one of those that happens to receive VistaPrint offers and took advantage of the FREE postcard offer. I downloaded the template on my computer and designed the card. I put the back (Merci) on the part where generally you would write a message on a postcard and the chandelier on the front of the postcard. When I received the cards they were perfect... only a little technicality - the front is glossy so I have to write using a ball point or permanent pen. So if you happen to use Vista print postcards - make sure you place the part of there card where you want to write on the back of the postcard and not the front. :) Learn from my mistakes.

So here is the tally of my thank you card costs:

Thank you card design : FREE
Printing: FREE
Card shipping: 22.37$
Envelopes (4x6) : 19.80$
Shipping of env. (combined with invitation env.) approx 5,00$
-------------------
47.17$ for 100 thank you cards.
A big : 0.47$ per card.

Now I just got to by a pen or two and start thanking away. I just hope it won't take me all summer.
How long did it take you to send out your thank you cards?

Le deroulement....

I have a confession to make. I'm not having any decoration at the church. Yes yes, I'm serious. I thought that since were going to be there a whole 45 minutes, I rather spend the money on other decoration items for my reception site. That being said, I still thought that my guests should have a little something - theme-ish at the ceremony.

Programs have always been a stationery item I loved... Not only are they really pretty, but they can be personalized and they serve as information/memento for your guests. Seriously I've spend hours looking for neat ideas for our program.

Here are some of the few I've collected:

Left to right: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

It wasn't until I read one of Mrs.Lovebugs post that it hit me. Telegram baby!!! So I am happy to present my (french) wedding program.

I've used real elements of Telegrams that I found on Retro-Gram and re-created something that was just right. I used Photoshop to modify the original telegram and I was lucky to have found one of the fonts used in the original piece. I'm really happy of the outcome of my programs. Straight to the point... well that's what a telegram is right?

Did you opt for a unique program?

Non-RSVPers

I was told that I should include an earlier reply date on my RSVP cards to ensure that I would get all my responses in time by May 21st (1 month before). I knew I would receive late replies - its a given. Well, I had put a May 10th deadline and it has officially passed.

I knew I would have some people who wouldn't respond on time, but I never thought so many people in my family would find it hard to mail a postcard. Its not like they had to put a stamp on it, it was already there.

I sent out 75 invitations, and 18 of those RSVPs have not yet found its way back to my mailbox. That's a lot - 24% of non - rsvpers. I can't be other than disappointed. I will give them until Wednesday for those who mailed them out this weekend... but I ain't gonna be the one to call them all... that's what mothers and FMIL are for!

How many non-RSVPers did you get?

Le Compte rendu...

I am proud to say that I finally mailed out all our invitations. I never thought that day would arrive... honestly planning my wedding has been the utmost longest thing I have ever done in my life (been engaged for 3.5 years) Its only normal that when I would look at my wedding check list the 6-8 weeks prior to the wedding: send out invitations seemed kinda far.

This is my last invitation post cuz its time for the compte rendu! Hurray!!!


Design - free of charge (done by me)



Stamps Rolls of 100 stamps
52.00$ each roll
Quantity: 2
Total: 104.00$



Stamp mail box dispenser (sorry for the blurry photo)
I just had to buy this.. it was way too cute
3.49$ each + taxes
Total: 3.94$

Open end A7 Envelopes in Coco (for invitation)
Purchased from PaperPresentation.com
14.50$ /pk of 50
Quantity: 2
Sub-total: 29$ + shipping
Total: 39.49$

Printing artwork

including recto/verso printing, cut to size
Invitation, RSVP and Accommodation card
Quantity: 80
Sub-total: 162$ + taxes
Total: 182.86$

For a grand total of ... drum roll please.... 330.29$ Comes out to about 4.12$ for the set. Set includes: invitation + envelope + stamps, accommodation cards, RSVP postcards + stamps. I'm really happy with my invitations, especially the price, definitely fit in my budget. Even though I had some issues with my invitations, I wouldn't of done it any other way. Now its time to design the other items... menu, place cards, programs, table numbers... here I come.

How much did your DIY invitations costs? Did you think it was worth going through all that trouble?

Permanent... yup its forever

Many of my fellow bees have blogged about having stamp issues with their invitations. They either purchased stamps at one point but because of an increase in the rates, they have no choice but to purchase those annoying 0.01$ stamps. Luckily for us Canadians we no longer need to deal with the 0.01$ stamps because they've introduced permanent stamps. That's right, permanent... as in Forever.

"Canada Post announced the introduction of a new non-denominated stamp that will retain its value forever. The PERMANENT stamp will eliminate the need to purchase 1¢ stamps after a rate increase, doing away with the need for Canadians to worry about 'using up' postage stamps before a rate increase takes effect." source of text and images

I was really excited about this news, especially being someone who rarely uses stamps. I went to the post office and purchased 2 rolls of 100 adhesive permanent stamps. The only disadvantage of these stamps I would say is the variety, but a pretty flower like the one shown is nice and wedding invitation worthy.

So my invitations are off... to infinity and beyond. Honestly, I'm anxious to get the RSVPs back. For once you get something in the mail that isn't a bill. I just hope my family will know what to do with the RSVP postcards. It seems simple, put it in the mail, but some of my guest might think that I forgot to include envelopes. (Don't laugh, I'm pretty sure this will happen - lol)

"It's over...

did you hear me? I'm officially breaking up with you" That's how I feel about my relationship with printers. I have a love/hate relationship and now the hate has taken over. I cannot say it enough : I HATE PRINTERS! OK maybe hate is a strong word...

I'm allowed to call it quits, because I've had way too much experience with printers and printshop. Unfortunately my work must rely on printers and they are never consistent in the colors, the quality, the printing and everything else. Why is it so hard to get things right the first time around. I'm so frustrated and wish I could live without them! (Printers that is)
Here is what happened....

After I finished the design of my invitations, carefully verified all the colors (using a Pantone chart) checking to make sure I didn't make any typos, I went to various printers for quotes. The printshop I chose was one I dealt with when I was in design school... and since I knew them I was sure they were going to do a good job. I brought in my artwork Monday morning and asked them if they thought they'd be ready by Friday (I absolutely wanted to mail them out that weekend) The lady at the front desk, said it wouldn't be a problem, and told me she would contact me to verify the proofs.

Wednesday is here, and I still haven't receive a call from the lady at the printshop. I picked up the phone and called to see what was going on. She told me that the proofs weren't ready yet, but again, reassured me and said,

"even if I approved the proofs on Thursday, they would still be ready on Friday."

Thursday is here, its almost noon and no call in sight, again I called the lady

"I apologize, the proofs won't be ready in time, our printer broke" Are you for real? No way!!!! But what could I do at this point... nothing.

Its now Friday and I don't have my invitations like they said I would. So now I'm hoping they fixed what ever issue they had with their printer. I called again, the lady knew it was me before I even said a word. That's not a good sign. She told me

"I'm so sorry, we have the technician in sight, but I won't be able to show you the proofs today. But Monday for sure! Is noon okay?"

Do I have a choice? Not really, so being the nice girl that I am I say "Sure, what other choice do I have?" I was angry all weekend long because I couldn't send out my invitations. Especially when the situation is extremely frustrating. On a good note, I took the oppurtunity to address all of the envelopes (at least that went well), so now I just have to put the invite in the envelopes and voila... send to the post office.

Monday is here, its almost noon, but before I leave work to stop by the print shop, I decide to call just in case. Luckily I did, because the proofs weren't ready yet. The lady told me to go after work, and I did. Finally time to approve the proofs. I got there, everything looked nice, until I turned the cards over. I had created the background in Photoshop and the rest of the card in Illustrator, and even though it was the same color (pantone CMYK equivalence) it was completely different. I was so angry.... but at the same time, I was already late and did I really want to redo the colors and go through this whole story all over again? Not really... so I printed them as is. Honestly, I don't think anyone will notice, only the designer in me... but its so frustrating to pay for something that isn't right!

Its Tuesday now and as I was going suppose to get my invites... well guess what? It didn't happen. They had a problem with the printer again! Big shocker!!! I this point I was used to it, I didn't care anymore... it was to that point, so I waited until the next day. Wednesday is here, 8 days after I sent my invitations to print and finally I get the invites. Better late than sorry... ya right. Come time to pay for the bill, the lady didn't even offer a discount or something because of all the issues regarding my invites. I didn't event want to start fighting about a percentage off... so I paid and left. I was so happy that was over with.

When I got home and started to assemble everything, don't I realized they screwed up the quantities!!! I'm not kidding you. I had three elements to my stationery: my invitation, RSVP and accommodation cards. The quantities were also easy 55 french, 25 English. Well for the accommodation cards, they screwed up. They printed only 40. I was in disbelief. Let me just say that some of my guest didn't get any accommodation cards. There was no way in hell I was going back there to get more printed. No way!

Isn't my story surreal? Guess I have to add it to my vendorzilla stories (not that they are considered a vendor - but still an important part to the whole invitation thing)

For those who designed their own invitations, did you have issues like I have? Anyone else want to call it quits with printers?

{Image found here}

I'm late! I'm late

This weekend I was working on the final details of my invites before I send them out to print... Then it dawned on me. What time do I put on the invitation?

The oh-so late white rabbit from Alice in wonderland
Image courtesy of Allposters.com

I mean you think its a simple question but honestly - do you put the time the ceremony is scheduled to start or do you give a 15 minute time difference to ensure everyone will arrive on time?

I don't want people to arrive after the ceremony started (though I know some of my guests will be late no matter the time I put on the invitation.)

What time did you put? The right one or a time slightly earlier?

Adressing the Guest list

Since my wedding invitation design is pretty much set, it's time to finalize the guest list and get all the famous addresses. Finalizing the guest list itself is a hard thing to do. I mean it was to the point that Mr.Flamingo and I were flipping coins to make a decision. Overall we are happy with our choices but now collecting all the addresses seem to be even more a tedious task.

Now, if I am not mistaken etiquette says that the parents of the bride and groom get the job of collecting all the addresses, but what do you do when they simply don't? I've asked them politely, but not everyone is taking their job to heart. In that case, what do you do?

How did you asked the parents? Or are you avoiding that whole step and doing it yourself? Any tips that would help me and other brides-to-be?

{images courtesy of : gettyimages.com and weddingbells.ca}

La piece de resistance....

After months and months of pulling out my hair because I had no ideas.... I finally found what I was going to do for my invitations. I wanted something vintage looking, with various elements and a uniqueness to each piece.

Thanks to Mr.Flamingo, the ball started rolling. With just 5 little words "Why not use a chandelier?" Why didn't I think of that... honestly I did, but I was afraid that the whole movie aspect was lacking. In the end, I'm really happy with the outcome.

La piece de resistance....
(click on the image to enlarge)

The invitation is a classic A7 single card (printed on both sides). First things first - I knew I wanted a pattern because they are pretty... but mostly since it would play an important role in my cake design (explanation coming soon) Secondly, I wanted the invitation to have movement, that's why I didn't place all the text flush left ;)

For the RSVP I decided to go the Postcard route. I think this is an excellent idea for all you eco-friendly brides. Cost efficient and less paper... what could be better than that.

I kept the idea of the pattern as to keep a consistency in the design. As for the other side, I found an image of an old clock (which happened to be NYC) and with the use of Live Trace in Adobe Illustrator CS2, I was able to create this unique vector image. I love the feel of transforming a photo to a vector... it automatically makes it more vintage looking.

Since we are getting married at a hotel, I needed accomodations cards to advise my guests of special rates. I really love this piece... maybe its because of the vintage looking hotel on the card. I bascially used the same steps to transform a photo to a vector image.

The colors might change slightly depending on the color of the envelopes. And of course some tweeking will occur... but overall I love it. I am really happy with the outcome. Now I just have to do the french ones.

So what do you think?

On a side note - Now I have to design my other stationary elements ; menu, place cards and thank you cards. Any suggestions on what type of imagery I should use? Maybe a mailbox, or a food dome for the menus?

And the award goes to...

Definitely not me!!! This weekend I finally started working on my invitations. To be honest it's not going very well. You'd think being a designer would help but it's simply making this whole process extremely hard. Like I always do when I don't seem to concentrate on a specific thing... I sidetrack so instead I started thinking about my table numbers.

Mr.Flamingo had found an interesting site a while back with endless amounts of movie posters from the 20s to now. I thought this was a interesting way to incorporate the whole movie part in the whole vintage glam theme. But I am still indecisive.

What do you think? Would it be a good idea to name our tables after vintage movies? Do you have any other ideas on how I could incorporate the movie part to our wedding?

(All images courtesy of : http://www.impawards.com)

Spread the emails....

Ever since I started planning my wedding, I've been reading left and right to know what should or should not be done. The first thing that caught my attention was save-the-dates. I had been reading so much about them, but to be honest I had no idea what they were - mostly because it isn't something very popular with the frenchies (us french speaking ladies) I know the term itself is quite explanatory... but still.

After analizing the whole idea I wasn't sure it was the best thing or us. Not only did we not have any many out of town guests, but it was just an extra cost that for me wasn't necessary. Oh and not to mention that cutting on the STD was being eco-friendly. SAVE the earth one paper at a time :). I decided you use my design talents and make an e-save-the-date and spread the word via email.

Here is an example of my save-the-date. Its nothing very spectacular, and my colors changed 5 times after that. But it got the message across... I hope ;)


I thought I would share with you (awesome weddingbee readers) some tips if you are planning on doing your own save-the-dates.

First off the background design of my STDs is nothing more than some scrapbooking paper. What's great is that there are some really neat Digital Scrapbooking websites with awesome print and embellishments which make for some interesting e-vites. Here are some of the websites I visit for neat ideas. (click on the images to visit their website)




Basically if you have a design program; Photoshop, Indesign or Illustrator you can make your invite very easily. All you need is your imagination. If ever you have any questions give me a shout out!!!
Am I the only one that decided to spread the word via email? What did you do?

Invitations that 'Glow'

For several months, I’ve been trying to find ideas for my wedding invitations. Being a graphic designer, I find it extremely hard designing something for myself. I don’t know what it is… I guess I am extremely critical of my work. Its hard finding the perfect idea, and we all know that we want everything to be perfect for the BIG day!

Invitations in general should set the tone & mood of a wedding, but most of all they should be inviting. You want your guest to want to come to my wedding. Invitations at times can also serve as great mementos… but in order to offer such a unique invitation, you have to be willing to pay a little more, oh or be talented with your two hands, of course.

Invitations by Gleaux

I came across a really neat invitation company called Gleaux (pronounced “Glow”). GLEAUX is a full service graphic design studio dedicated to the reincarnation of the paper invitations. What pushed them to create such beautiful designs is the urge to re-kindle the excitement of receiving and opening a personal, handwritten addressed envelope on beautiful paper. They pay lots of attention to details, but most of all they want to establish that special relationship between you and your guests.

This is exactly what I need and obviously I will make them myself but I don't even know where to start... I called my good friend in TO for some help. She said she would be happy to help me out! Thank goodness... because I don't think I can do this myself. We are gathering ideas left and right, so once I have something more concrete to show you guys - don't worry I will.

But is this indecisiveness only something designer prone? My whole planning has actually gone really smoothly, but my invitations is a huge road block! What are your wedding road blocks???