Black & White Damask Wedding

I am so excited to announce that Cali Cards will be featured at the table setting of Tori Rogers of Hawaiian Island Wedding Planners in Honolulu, Hawaii. All you Hawaiian brides out there definitely check out The Wedding Cafe in Honolulu and look up the most knowledgable and most professional Wedding Planner on the islands, Tori Rogers. I had the pleasure of meeting Tori at a wedding event in Los Angeles, California. She was telling me about her upcoming event and describing her Black and White Damask table design and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with her.

For Tori I created an amazing wedding suite that includes an Invitation, Menu, Placecard and Table Number to complement her design. To create this unique invitation I started with a 7"x7" pocketfold and completely wrapped the front and back of it with a black and white damask flocked paper. A pop of yellow textured paper is peaking from behind to create more interest. I then embellished the front with a double-faced satin ribbon and Swarovski rhinestones. The invitation is layered with textured black and yellow papers as well as the same black damask flocked paper that is on the front. This design creates amazing textures and dimension like nothing you've seen out there. Three custom inserts were created; the Schedule of Events, a RSVP card and of course my favorite the "Top 10 Reasons To Join Us!" Just image your guests receiving this invitation in the mail! How could they not look forward to such a remarkable wedding!

Custom Holiday Cards

The cool days of fall are upon us and that can mean only one thing: the holidays lie just ahead!

While we still have several weeks before the stores put up their holiday diplays, it is never too early to think about your Holiday greeting cards. Yes, we know the thought of the holidays barreling around the corner is a bit scary, but at Cali Cards we are ready to help you through them.

Let us design your special card, that captures the uniqueness of you and your family. But don't put it off like those last minute gifts because our deadline for taking your orders is November 1st.

We look forward to hearing from you and dare I say...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

A Summer Wedding

Like a butterfly in the summer, our hearts are uplifted by love...

I am so happy to share with you one of our latest creations. We were contacted by Rose in Maryland who was looking for unique custom wedding invitations. She wanted a simple yet elegant invitation that would entice her guests to attend her New England wedding. We began the design process only knowing that she wanted the colors to be pink and gold. We sent her some papers as inspiration and she loved the butterfly paper. Now with a solid idea to start our design process with we created a butterfly image. For more impact we embossed the butterfly image on the cover of the antique gold metallic pocketfold and added Swarovski crystal rhinestones to create the butterfly trail. On the invitation we also used the butterfly graphic and added the rhinestone trail to create a bit of movement. I just love the simplicity and elegance of this beautiful invitation. I've already heard from the bride that the guests are raving about the invitations and can't wait to attend! Success.

The tassels worth the hassle!

Ahhhh it is that time again...Spring is here and graduation is fast approaching. It is time to celebrate the memories of the past and the promise and opportunities of the future. I can still remember the excitement and anticipation of my big days...it was at my Preschool graduation to which I got to wear my first full-length dress. How grown up is that! It was at my High School graduation, my true rite of passage into adulthood, where I really started to feel grown up. With all the excitement of the unknown and a tiny bit of trepidation, I couldn't wait to get to college. It was worth it. College graduation was the ultimate accomplishment; my career and life possibilities were endless.

Graduation is just one of those events that you remember forever. No matter what level, every achievement deserves recognition and celebration and it is customary to celebrate those achievements with personalized Graduation Announcements, Invitations and Thank you cards. At Cali Cards we make the process simple and fun.

Our creations are all custom designed, handmade and assembled which keeps your celebration looking and feeling unique amongst the many you might be sharing the honorable occasion with. We will even mail the cards for you to help save you the time and effort.

Let us take the hassle out of the tassel so you can enjoy the moment!

"I hope your dreams take you to the corners of your smiles, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities, and to the most special places your heart has ever known." ~ Author Unknown

The beauty of the Thank You card

Did you know that greeting cards date back to societies from over 500 years ago? The Chinese and Egyptians would exchange messages of fortune and goodwill on pieces of papyrus. It wasn’t until the 1400’s that the Europeans caught on to this type of social expression. Due to the cost of these hand-delivered cards only the wealthy got to partake in their exchange. However, by the 1840’s and the invention of the postage stamp greeting cards became mainstream. As the printing process became more advanced cards became available to both the elite and lower classes.

Fast forward some 150 years and the art of writing a thank you card is rapidly being lost. In the age of electronic media we are becoming all to accustom to writing thank you emails instead of sending out the time honored hand-written thank you card. I too am guilty of being slow to get out my thank you cards or forgetting all together and just emailing a thank you. But even I know nothing can truly replace the hand-written thank you card, which is why my New Year’s resolution was to get better at writing them. I mean really we all love getting mail. Our daily ritual consists of walking out to the mail box, smiling, wondering what arrived today to only be disappointed that we have more bills, magazines and junk mail. I love getting hand-written cards but if I don’t send anything out then I shouldn’t expect any in return. Besides, isn’t it just good manners to send a thoughtful note of appreciation and thanks?

At Cali Cards let us help you make your hand-written notes more personal by creating a unique design that will tell them you truly care. Your thank you cards will reflect your personality and make receiving them a memorable experience…a card the recipient won’t want to throw away but instead show it to others and keep it on display. What could be better than that?

Eco-friendly Invitations

Last weekend I met my sister at the Anaheim Convention Center for the Natural Products Expo held there every year in March. My sister was there doing a book signing for her new book "Eating Between the Lines" by Kimberly Lord Stewart. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it. I know I am bias but it will really open your eyes and help you shop smarter and more healthfully. I love going to this event. I have made the trek up north the past three years and I always leave with a renewed excitement about the natural products industry and a come home determination to do better both in my home and my business. It is so easy to fall back into old habits like eating take-out instead of a planning a little and creating a good, healthy home-cooked meal. For me I've always been good at recycling and trying to conserve water and energy but every year it opens my eyes to the amount of recycled products and good tasting organic and natural foods that are out there. Most people shy away from organic brands because they automatically assume higher prices and think it's not worth it. Well after seeing, and tasting, the hundreds (if not thousands) of new products out there I believe the price points are going to eventually drop to where it will be more affordable to the masses. You've got to love market competition!

What was so exciting for me (and Cali Cards) is that I came across a supplier of natural woven products that have inspired me to create an eco-friendly line of invitations. What will make this line different from any other eco-friendly line out there is that we will create completely custom and unique designs, designs that you have never seen in ways that have never been done before. As a company that prides itself in high quality and honesty, we will not just offer recycled papers (which our papers already are) we will offer eco-friendly printing methods and construction methods. At Cali Cards we share with the consumer about our design process from the products chosen to the method of construction so you won't have to wonder if you truly have an eco-friendly invitation. Cali Cards invites to join us on our journey as we create our new Cali Cards eco-line and contact us now if you are interested in being the first to have an original elegant and beautiful Cali Eco invitation.

A New Orleans Wedding

Tracy and Martin - February 2009
I am happy to show you one of our newest creations. Tracy came to Cali Cards looking for a unique and original design that would set the stage for her New Orleans wedding. She knew she wanted the colors to be purple and gold, in the Mardi Gras tradition, and have a New Orleans feel to it. I Immediately thought of the famous iron gates scattered throughout New Orleans. So the first design layout I created for her was a balcony ironwork invitation.

She liked the idea of the ironwork but did not like the literal interpretation. I took her comments and desires and created an invitation that hinted at the ironwork of the French Quarter; her dream wedding invitation. The wedding invitation is a gold leaf metallic pocketfold with purple paper accents and Swarovski rhinestones individually placed throughout both the invitation and reception card to add a little glitz and glam. The invitation is closed using a matching purple satin ribbon.