The weekend’s almost here…#inserthappydanceemoticon#. What do y’all have lined up this weekend. I’ll be continuing with my swim lessons… the story is I can swim but don’t have the confidence to be by myself at the deep end. I shall conquer……
On another note, a few pictures from our launch were featured in the May 2012 issue of TW Magazine – one of Nigeria’s leading lifestyle magazine geared towards todays “Woman”.
Grab a copy….. 
Hello people! It’s been quite a busy period for us but who’s complaining. As most of you know, we have such a wide range of print services to offer our clientele. We only ask that you come to us earlyyyy because some of the print methods we use take a bit of time but the end result is so well worth it. We offer digital, offset, thermography, foil stamping and letterpress print methods. No one is particularly better than the other, I think it just depends on your personal taste, preference and pockets ($$$) lol! Lately, I have fallen in love with letterpress because it appears to have this lush feel and the deep impressions of the print just make the invitation ensemble look uber cool.
INTRODUCTION TO LETTERPRESS PRINTING
Letterpress printing is a printing technique which has been in use in the West since the 15th Century, when it was used by Johannes Gutenberg to manufacture the Gutenberg Bible. Letterpress printing remained the primary way to print and distribute information until the twentieth century, when offset printing was developed. Letterpress printing involves locking movable type into the bed of a press, inking it, and rolling or pressing paper against it to form an impression. While it is not in common use, letterpress printing is valued by some artisans. High quality papers and inks are used to create an especially lush impression. Letterpress printing is more time consuming than offset printing, resulting in higher cost (so guys, when i tell you it takes 10 working days for your letterpress jobs, now you now why
A really really cool modern trend with letterpress invitations applied these days is called “edge painting”. Edge painting has actually been around for centuries – back in the old days, master bookbinders gilded the edges of books with gold, to show a preciousness. The ‘outside edge’ on all four corners of the letterpress invite is basically hand-painted in any color of your choice (matte or foil).
***Keep in mind that we cannot incorporate die-cut letterpress cards with edge painting***
We recently completed a print job which was letterpress & edge painted in matte antique gold. The pictures surely don’t do it justice. I’ll stop all the chit-chat so you can see for yourselves……. (some text is blurred out on purpose so forgive the smudgy look on some parts of the invite).
INVITATION SPECS
6×9 inch double thick ecru cardstock – main invite
3×6 inch double thick ecru cardstock – information card
Edge painting – antique gold
Print – 2 color pantone (antique gold + black)
Envelopes – 6×9 inch textured metallic ivory square flap envelopes with metallic antique gold envelope liners
Hey guys! We got our pictures much earlier than anticipated. We are currently sorting through them to make sure they are gentle on the eyes…Lol! Anyways, enjoy some of the ones we’ve picked out…More to come.
Photography Credits – Ighosime Oyofo
So lovelies! We had a fantastic weekend. We hosted a little cocktail reception yesterday to show off our studio space and potentially spread the word. I have to say, I was pleased with the way things turned out. Thanking God for his mercies and blessings. The highlight of the day I think, was our yummy dessert table spread. Not only did it look pretty but each and every item on the table was “wickedly divine.” Tayo Bolodeoku of Hans & Rene made all the sweet treats with the exception of the coconut macaroons & the heart shaped sugar cookies. Lola Talabi Oni of Sweet Pea Bake Shop is responsible for the yummy and moist coconut macaroons + sugar cookies. They are both so creative and have a passion for what they do. Love love love people like that cos as y’all know – presentation is so key for me. Gotta give props to my cousin Alex and his fiance Kemi for coming through with assorted Macarons from Laduree. I’m such a lucky girl. I’m sharing a few pics of the spread all taken by our resident photog – Ighosime Oyofo who is such a wonderful guy. The first pic was taken by me on my phone, hence the blurry imperfections. Also, a big big shout out to Issa Williams (master at his game), who was our bartender for the evening. You all rock big time. Muah!!!
***contact info for Hans&Rene + Sweet Pea Bake Shop if you’d like to order some yummy treats***
Hans & Rene - http://www.facebook.com/hansandrene (0808.777.3333)
Sweet Pea Bake Shop – http://www.wix.com/swtpea/bakeshop (0806.071.1106)
How many of you have ever looked through a directory or been referred to a business by someone and searched online for more details but to your amazement, found that they do not have functional websites or websites at all. It is actually mind boggling to see so many businesses without a web presence in today’s global economy.
There are so many inexpensive host webbies where you can obtain domain names these days. Once you obtain that name, it can be yours to keep forever, provided you do what you have to do to register each year to keep it current. Side note: Now, obtaining a domain name is one thing and maintaining a functional working website is another. We’ll save that story for another day…..
No matter what part of the world you live in, everyone is living extremely packed and busy lives. Having a well presented website with detailed information lends your business to the convenience of clientele. They do not have to go out of their way to reach out to you. Your well thought out business represents a brand and having a functioning (KEYWORD) website is indicative and representative of the company’s image. My dear friend Mola always says – “you gotta spend money to make money”. Lol!
Web presence expands your market far and beyond your locale. I hold these words near and dear to my heart and mind – “know who your competitors are, locally & globally.” Personally speaking, we get a lot of calls from clients in the United Kingdom, United States, Ghana, etc. I always ask my clients how they heard about us, and 80% would say referrals and the remainder 20% mention searching the web engines using terms like luxury invitations, custom invitations, etc. Quite interesting huh!
I’m going to end with a few comments I found and read from this blog – http://more-tips.blogspot.com/2007/12/importance-of-having-website.html . Quite an old post but the comments still stand true: “whether you are a small business owner, entrepreneur, inventor, author, artist, musician/band, you need a website. Nowadays more and more people are searching the Internet to find products, information about products and other similar issues. If you aren’t active online your competitors will surely have more success due to the fact that you will remain anonymous although you might have a better offer than your competitors but they make a statement on-line which is determinant; in fewer words, Internet = promotion & advertising = success.”
Hope this post stirs up some thought for my fellow small business owners……
Goodnight y’all
xxx
Hello lovelies. Hope you had fab weekends? I had a whirlwind crazy weekend but it was all worth it. We showcased at the Sugar Wedding Fair (second time around so we are no longer newbies) on Sunday, March 18, 2012 at Harbour Point – Wilmont Road, Victoria Island, Lagos.
We were there bright and early (8.45am to be exact) and luckily for us, our strategically located booth was all set-up and ready to go. It took a good 45 minutes for me to have it look the way I wanted. We incorporated our signature company color (purple) along with monochromatic shades of pink and hints of black. We also had friendly booth neighbors – Buttercups by Tayo to my left and Roberts Cafe to my right.
SPAH was one exhibitor that caught my fancy. She had a cute little set-up of a massage bed, lush white robes, dim lighting and soothing music. Their service offering I thought was pretty innovative in these parts – mobile spas that cater to bridal parties, girlie nights (you catch my drift). I will definitely be recommending her to all my ladies and brides. Oh! another off the wall thought….THANK GOD she didn’t have @google, @gmail, @yahoo at the end of her B.U.S.I.N.E.S.S email. Business people, word of advice, please register and obtain a domain so you can have proper business emails. Interested, reach out to them – www.myspah.com | info@myspah.com | 0708.246.8156
***DISCLAIMER – that last side thought is not directed at anyone in particular***
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to take any pictures but there were loads of photogs snapping away. Will be sure to share some (eye-pleasing of course) when I can get my hands on them.
Now lovelies, off to start my Monday. Cheers to a great week ahead.
What a lovely Friday afternoon it is. Hello dearies. So I have been stalling on sharing pics of our new space (don’t ask me why). It’s quite functional now looking back at where we stood six months ago. So far, a lot of great reviews from our clients. We look forward to meeting many more clients here as we grow and evolve our business into the best we can be in the industry. Have a lovely weekend!
The Bridal Circle just makes us wanna jump for joy. Has anyone out there heard about this trailblazing online luxury resource? Let me tell you, if you are not part of this circle as a vendor in the wedding/service industry, ___________________ (fill in the blanks).
The Bridal Circle is the brainchild of Sade Awe who’s a diva in her own right and just has an eye for all things luxurious and glam. They are the “go to” resource guide for couture wedding finds, featuring top notch elite vendors that provide luxury products and exceptional service.
They have a whole lot of stuff coming up in the next few months that will absolutely blow your mind. Inkhearts Studios is definitely mucho excited and will fill you once we go through the vetting process to hopefully become part of this amazing opportunity.
Interested vendors can go directly to their website – www.thebridalcircle.com to obtain more information and sign up. Don’t sleep on this folks……..
Hello Lovelies! Isn’t it crazy, January is over and the month of February has sprung upon us. Bet all you lovebirds out there have all sorts of tricks up your sleeves for your loved ones this Valentines.
Well, well, on another note, since Love is in the Air and it’s been a hot little minute since we featured a “Real Wedding” post, I present to you the adorable Mr. & Mrs. Shote who got hitched a few weeks ago in Lagos, Nigeria. From what I gathered, their wedding turned out to be as lovely as I had imagined it would be. From our first meeting, I could tell Gino was a very pragmatic but “no fuss” kinda bride (if that makes any sense….) I didn’t get a chance to meet her hubby in person but we chatted once on the phone and he was just as pleasant as she was.
Simply Gorgeous! Enjoy…
For their invitation suite, we created a metallic ivory gate card design adorned with an army green organza ribbon + an accompanying champagne envelope. I loved the fact that they wanted separate reception cards tucked into an inner pocket on the right hand side of the gate card flap.
Wow! 2012 folks. Can you believe it!!! Well, it was an amazing 2011 and I pray for a better 2012. This is also my first post this year so YAYY!
What do you do when you are forcibly (is that a word #confusedlookonface#? ) stuck at home for probably the rest of the week? Get crafty of course. I finally got my act together and made the lollipop invitations I have been meaning to create and post on here. Really, they turned out adorable.
I started out using the following materials – circle cutter, craft sticks, double sided tape (you can use some tacky glue instead), colored cardstock and colorful ribbons.
This is how it finally turned out – A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E!!!
Who say’s only little girls get to have all the fun? I was on a roll so I went ahead and made another invite more appropriate for a little boy in terms of color….
These invites would make the little invited guests go “gaga”. Imagine topping this off with a candy/dessert display table at the party. Ooooooh, the mommies & daddies will surely be upset with you for making their kids sugar crazy. Be understanding and compensate by tossing cute little toothbrushes + kiddie toothpaste into their party/favor packs with a custom thank you note… Problem solved huh! Lol…
One more thing I did today was create large hanging tissue pom-poms. These will serve as pretty little things in terms of decor at a birthday party or bridal shower. Balloons out, colorful custom pom-poms in, we say. Don’t you agree?
Give us a ring – 08074783309 or email us at info@inkhearts.com if you’re interested in ordering these items for your next event.
Be safe y’all!!!